


As I’ll Ever Be

by takemetofantasyland



Category: Anastasia - Flaherty/Ahrens/McNally
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, leap year au, road trip au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:54:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26702515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/takemetofantasyland/pseuds/takemetofantasyland
Summary: Anya Romanov prides herself on the planning and predictability of her lifestyle. When her boyfriend of four years drags his feet in proposing, she decides to take matters into her own hands and follows an old Irish tradition to Dublin. Through a series of missteps she finds herself under the guidance of a local innkeeper who promises to take her to Dublin in exchange for money to save his inn.Based on Leap Year (2010)
Relationships: Dimitri | Dmitry/Anya | Anastasia Romanov (Anastasia 1997 & Broadway)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 28





	1. Pseudo Proposal

**Author's Note:**

  * For [izloveshorses](https://archiveofourown.org/users/izloveshorses/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of the first dimya aus we ever discussed, and though its off season, I think it’s time for this au to have it’s moment in the sun. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. Much love xx

Anastasia Romanov—or Anya as she preferred to be called—was a planner, through and through. She prided herself on her visions and mapping ideas into reality. It was both a blessing and a curse, but she preferred to think of it as a personal comfort. Anya reveled in preparedness, and she was always two steps ahead.

Which was why she had arranged an appointment for her and Matvei, her boyfriend of four years, to purchase a luxury apartment in the city. In Anya’s opinion, Matvei was dragging his feet in their relationship, and it was throwing her plan off. She hoped by purchasing an apartment together it would nudge Matvei in the right direction—the direction of dedicating their lives to each other. If Anya had her preference it would be in a chapel, but she would accept the rose garden of her grandmother’s estate if the wedding was in spring and the weather was forgiving enough to allow for it. 

Anya squeezed Matvei’s hand as they waited in the lobby of the building business office. Matvei’s eyes were locked on his phone, while his free hand scrolled through work messages. He checked his watch, “I thought you said the appointment was at 1 p.m.?” 

“I did,” Anya replied quietly. She bit her lip as they looked around the lobby and down the hall. The photos online had looked so warm and welcoming, but the business office was rather cold and uninviting. 

“I took a late lunch for this,” Matvei muttered. It was 1:02 p.m.

Anya squeezed his hand to let him know if would be alright. 

A woman from the office staff greeted them and took them to a private office for discussion. 

Anya sat with her hands folded in her lap and feet crossed under her chair as she and Matvei endured a serious of routine questions on their financial status and relationship status. 

“And what would make you two great candidates for this apartment?” The woman asked as she reached the end of the list. Her eyes naturally glanced at Anya’s bare ring finger. 

Anya swallowed hard and looked at Matvei for a moment, hoping he would contribute something as a vote of confidence that they were serious about this. He looked back at her. It had been her idea after all. She cleared her throat, “Well, we both have very stable income. Matvei is a doctor, and I work in real estate, I stage apartments. With those stable jobs, we’re both looking to make New York City our permanent home.”

The woman nodded and typed something on her computer. 

Anya’s heart raced and she turned to look at Matvei. He quietly nodded, his brow knit in irritation that this was taking too long. Her shoulders sank in disappointment. “Listen, I am a planner, I plan things, for my job I plan room design layout, and in my plan, I don’t see either of us moving out of the city for work any time soon.” Anya added. The woman continued typing without looking at Anya.

Anya pursed her lips and inhaled sharply. She glanced at Matvei, “And both of us are on a trajectory to fit in with your clientele.”

The woman typed and hit the return key and folded her hands on her desk as she turned back to Anya.

Anya held her tongue before she added any more. She didn’t want to sound desperate, but she was. They needed this apartment. She needed this apartment. She also needed Matvei to engage so they could convince this prestigious board—but that was a separate matter. 

The woman politely smiled as if she understood. She filed Anya’s neat application form into a folder.

Anya watched carefully, unsure what it all meant. She looked at Matvei. He was looking at his phone under the table.

The woman eyed Matvei and his lack of presence throughout their conversation. Her brow knit as she wrote on a post-it note and stuck it to Anya’s application. Anya hadn’t said anything more, so she was hoping that was not an observational note. 

Anya was cross with Matvei. This was supposed to be about the two of them, and yet she was doing all the work to convince the board they were a good fit for this building. The conversation was only about fifteen minutes, but it felt like it had been hours. She didn’t think her heart had stopped pounding since they had set foot in the building.

“Thank you, Ms. Romanov, we’ll be in touch,” the woman replied warmly as she held Anya’s application in her hand. 

“Thank you, for your time,” Anya replied and smiled as she shook the woman’s hand. 

Anya and Matvei walked out of the office without so much as a word to each other. It was like they were both holding their breath, afraid to step out of line within the walls of the building. Anya smiled at the doorman as they exited and squeezed Matvei’s arm as they walked onto the street. 

“We have half an hour left of your lunch, did you want to get a quick coffee?” Anya asked. 

Matvei frowned as he looked down at his phone. “What was that?” He asked as he turned to look at her.

“Coffee, Motya,” Anya said sternly. She wasn’t even sure he was listening to her. 

“Love, I’m so sorry, they need me back at work early,” Matvei said softly as he gently rubbed Anya’s shoulder. “They can’t do anything without me, am I right?” He laughed. Anya did not. 

She nodded as she bit her lip. Matvei kissed her cheek and headed to the nearest subway station. 

Anya stood on the curb a moment longer and rocked on the balls of her feet as she watched him disappear. She could only hope the frequent goodbyes would only be temporary.

* * *

Anya stared at herself in the dressing room mirror at a department store on 5th Avenue. With her and Matvei’s anniversary quickly approaching, she was searching for the perfect dress for their dinner reservation. 

Her older sister, Maria, had come along to help pick her dress—allegedly. Maria told Anya two dresses ago she was going down the block to get a coffee and hadn’t returned. 

Anya gave the dress a twirl as she admired it in the mirror. She smiled to herself as she fanned the skirt out and watched the way it moved with her as she twirled. The dress was like something out of a fairytale, and she felt like a little girl again, playing dress up with her sisters. When she was with Matvei, he made her feel like she was a princess no matter if she was or not, and she just wanted to look the part. 

Matvei always commented on her dresses and she was sure this must be what it was like to be a princess. And if it wasn’t, she didn’t want anyone to tell her otherwise and ruin her daydream. 

Caught in a moment on her own, she twirled in the dress, watching in the mirror how it moved with her, imagining the way Matvei would smile when he saw it.

“Nastya, are you in here?” Maria called. 

Anya turned over her shoulder and looked at her sister. She was strangely without a coffee in hand. 

“I thought you were getting a coffee?” Anya replied. 

“That dress is beautiful,” Maria replied as she took a seat on an ottoman in the dressing room. “So I was going to get coffee, and I was on my way down the block, but you’ll never guess who I saw leaving Tiffany’s.” 

Maria’s eyes were bright and Anya couldn’t tell if she was supposed to guess someone they liked or hated. Her brow knit in suspicion. 

“Who?” Anya asked. She turned back to look in the mirror at the way the dress hugged the curve of her waist. She turned to her side and stood on her tip toes, admiring the way the skirt fell.

“Matvei!” Maria grinned.

“Matvei?” Anya gasped as she spun around to look at Maria. “What would Matvei be doing at Tiffany’s?”

“I don’t know, but he was carrying one of those little blue bags,” Maria grinned and she bit her lip to contain her excitement. “Nastya, did you know?”

“Wait, hold on,” Anya squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “You’re sure it was Motya you saw leaving Tiffany’s?”

“Well, his face wasn’t glued to his cell phone, so I can’t be certain,” Maria shrugged. “But it did look an awful lot like that man you keep bringing to Christmas dinner.”

Anya frowned at her sister’s teasing. “He’s busy with work, he can’t help it.”

“Nastya, he’s proposing!” Maria squealed. 

The realization settled into her mind and Anya gasped “I’m getting engaged. Mashka, I’m getting married!” 

“I know!” Maria smiled as she jumped up and wrapped her arms around Anya. “Don’t forget I told you first. Keep that in mind when you’re picking bridesmaids.”

“Mashka, you know you’ve already secured being my maid of honor, even without leaking that you saw Matvei,” Anya smiled. She stood on her toes to kiss her sister’s cheek. 

“Is that the dress you’re going with?” Maria asked as she pulled away to look at what Anya had tried on while she was gone.

“I don’t know,” Anya replied as she gave it a twirl. “My maid of honor wasn’t here to help me. She was down the block spying on my boyfriend.”

“That one is beautiful,” Maria smiled sheepishly. “You should be grateful, now you know you get to pick the dress you’re getting engaged in.” 

Anya stuck her tongue out at her sister. Maria giggled as Anya went back into her dressing room to reprise the dresses Maria had missed. 

After some thought and advice from Maria, she settled on a dress, her heart racing as she completed the transaction. It was hard to believe this was the dress she would be wearing when Matvei proposed. She could almost see it as she carried the dress out of the shop with Maria’s arm linked through hers.

* * *

Matvei squeezed Anya’s hand as he led her into an exclusive restaurant on the Upper East Side. “These are the hardest reservations to get in the city,” Matvei whispered to Anya as they walked through the dining room of the restaurant. 

Anya nodded. Matvei always pointed out things that were exclusive, or something he would be able to brag about to their friends and his colleagues later. She wondered if sometimes he only took her on expensive dates just to say he could. 

Anya had grown up in a wealthy family and she never understood why wealthy people were so complicated. She appreciated her lifestyle, but sometimes she would give anything to share a cheap milkshake and A real conversation with Matvei. Sometimes she thought Matvei enjoyed reliving the memory more than he enjoyed making it with her. 

She and Matvei were seated and with little trouble had a pleasant dinner. Anya had a hard time sitting still, knowing he was going to propose either at the restaurant or later that night. She was going to be his fiancée by the end of the night and the anticipation of not knowing when or how he was going to do it was driving her crazy. 

“Anya, I want to thank you,” Matvei said softly as he took her hand. Candlelight flickered between them. It wasn’t quite how Anya had always pictured it as a little girl, but Matvei was quite romantic. “I know these last few months have been particularly challenging for you, and I’ve been really busy.”

Anya nodded. She ran her thumb over the back of his hand as she listened. 

“I know that’s not easy,” Matvei said as he caught her gaze and held her hand. “I acknowledge that.”

“I’m glad we’re on the same page,” Anya smiled softly. 

Matvei squeezed her hand. “I got you a little something, as a promise of how committed I am to this relationship.”

Anya’s heart raced. This was it. This was the moment she had been waiting for. Surely he was doing it before dessert so they could order something to celebrate and perhaps a bottle of champagne.

Matvei pulled out a delicate blue box and placed it in front of her. “Go on and open it.”

Anya pulled the box open to reveal a pair of diamond earrings. She bit her lip to hide her disappointment. “These are earrings,” She said softly as her mind tried to work through everything that led up to this moment.

“I thought they would look really good on you,” Matvei smiled. “You know when you pin your hair up, or down, either way.”

Anya pursed her lips to hold back her tears. She nodded with gratitude, “thank you, Motya, they’re beautiful.”

He smiled and took her hand to press a kiss to her fingers. “I just knew you’d love them.” 

Anya nodded as she closed the box. She looked across the table at Matvei in the low candlelight. Suddenly the atmosphere changed from mysterious and romantic to just forgotten and cold. He made their anniversary about his own guilt and absence.

“Have you started packing?” Anya asked, feeling a knot in her throat. “Your flight to Dublin leaves early tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it handled,” Matvei grinned. He gave her hand a squeeze. 

“Right,” Anya nodded. 

“Will you be alright while I’m gone?” Matvei asked. 

Anya nodded as she twisted her napkin in her lap, “Yeah.”

Matvei ordered dessert and Anya tried to be grateful as they split a piece of cheesecake. Matvei was a good guy, he was just very career-driven. That’s what she told her father and her grandmother and her older sisters, and she was standing by that. When he wasn’t glued to his work, he was quite lovely and romantic. It was only in the past year he had gotten busier and had less time for their relationship.

* * *

When Anya arrived at her family’s weekly brunch, her stomach dropped with her own self doubt. She was prepared to share the news of her and Matvei’s engagement and now her tongue was tied. Her siblings always had plenty of good news to share with her family, and Anya lived the most predictable lifestyle and with that came fewer big surprises to share.

The morning after her anniversary dinner with Matvei, she responded to Maria’s message of a smirking emoji with a sad face. Maria immediately called her and reassured her that it didn’t mean anything and Matvei was just waiting for a different time. 

Anya had to agree with Maria at the time, but she so badly wanted to be the one to share some news with the family for a change. She clutched her purse as she stepped into the restaurant, her lip caught between her teeth.

“Solnyshka!” Nicholas greeted Anya as she arrived at the restaurant. Suddenly her worries melted away and she smiled at her father. 

“Hi Papa,” Anya smiled as she pressed her cheek to her father’s chest. He ran his fingers through his youngest daughter’s hair, staying still as she held him. Anya held her cheek against his chest, pausing for a moment too long.

“Is everything alright?” He asked as he pulled back to look at her. 

Anya bit her lip and nodded. “Yes, I’m fine! I’m just happy to see you.” 

Nicholas pulled back and smiled warmly. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. Anya smiled and took a seat at the table. 

Maria arrived shortly after her and made a beeline to Anya to wrap her arms around her and press a kiss to her head. “You’ll be alright, Nastya,” Maria whispered. Anya nodded. 

“No tears at this table today, alright?” Maria whispered. “Matvei is just waiting to make it extra special.”

Anya nodded and Maria gave her a tight squeeze, mussing Anya’s hair as she pulled her head to her chest and rubbed her back. 

Nicholas was quick to embrace Maria, and Anya smiled as she held back tears. Alexei sat beside her and suddenly her doubts slipped away. He started talking about his university work, and she was engrossed in trying to keep up with how smart her brother was instead of the total bait and switch she had over a proposal. 

Maria took a seat beside her after properly taunting Tatiana and Olga, fulfilling her duty as the middle sister. She giggled as Olga shook her head at Maria from down the table.

Anya smiled as she watched her sisters being playful with each other. Time passed and things changed, but the love between her sisters and brother never did.

Nicholas sat at the end of the table, beside Anya and Maria. 

“Nastya, why the long face,” Nicholas asked. Drinks were delivered to their table as Anya flipped through her menu without really reading it. 

Anya shook her head, “I’m fine, Papa.”

“There’s something on your mind,” Nicholas replied. He hadn’t raised four daughters without being able to tell when one of them was bothered. 

“Fine,” Anya sighed. “I thought Matvei was going to propose and then he didn’t. Mashka saw him leaving Tiffany’s, which is unmistakable for buying an engagement ring, and he bought me earrings instead. And it was the night before he left for Dublin for a work conference for a week.”

Nicholas’ lips parted as he looked over at Maria. Maria shook her head. 

Alexei’s mouth gaped and Maria gave him a stern look. He snapped his mouth shut. 

The Romanovs were quiet, and what Anya thought had been a private conversation between her and her father was now in earshot of her siblings, mother and grandmother. 

Her cheeks flushed as she looked at her father. Maria sipped from her drink and turned to Tatiana to ask her about her new apartment. 

Tatiana happily rattled off details about trying to furnish and refurbish the place, quickly pulling the attention away from Anya. 

Nicholas nodded and smiled as he listened to Tatiana for a moment. His eyes returned to Anya as she tried to collect her thoughts. 

“It’s been four years, Papa,” Anya said softly. 

Nicholas reached across the table and gently took her hand. “And you’re sure that you love him?” Nicholas asked. 

“Of course I do!” Anya replied. 

“Why don’t you propose to him if you’re so sure?” Nicholas suggested.

“Papa, that’s silly,” Anya shook her head. “I want him to propose to me. I want to be caught up by the love and being overwhelmed as he slides the ring on my finger.” Her stomach turned as the words fell out of her mouth. She wanted to be swept off her feet and made to feel like a princess being swept away by her very own Prince Charming. 

“If you had gone to Dublin with him, you could have proposed to him,” Maria suggested nonchalantly.

Anya choked on her drink and looked at Maria. “That’s- what?” Anya clarified. 

“There’s an old Irish tradition called Bachelor’s Day, where on Leap Day, a woman can propose to her boyfriend,” Maria shook her head. “It’s become sort of a thing where women go to Ireland to propose to their boyfriends.”

“Leap Day?” Anya asked. 

Maria nodded. 

Anya paused as she thought, “that’s this week.”

Maria swallowed and looked at her, “Nastya, you’re not serious. It’s like an old tradition, who even knows if it’s true! Matvei will propose when he is ready, I mean you two are basically married, you’ve been together for so long.” 

“Mashka,” Anya replied desperately. 

“I know,” Maria waved her off. “You want the fancy ring and the fancy wedding, and to be Mrs. Anastasia Nikolaevna Volkov.” 

“I would like the promise that he’d rather be with me than the hospital,” Anya murmured into her drink.

As they ate, Anya couldn’t stop thinking about if she were to propose to him. If she wanted a proposal to be perfectly planned, she would have to do it herself. There was nothing wrong with that. It would be a cute story to tell for years to come, anyway.

* * *

That night, or perhaps it was early morning, Anya sat awake in her apartment, watching the rain as it poured over the city. She hadn’t checked the time, but it didn’t matter. She couldn’t sleep anyway. 

Traffic buzzed 20 floors below her midtown apartment. She thought of how quiet the apartment she and Matvei had toured was, and if he only could have engaged with the admin of the office they could be well on their way to owning a luxury apartment. 

Droplets of rain ran down her window pane and she focused on a single drop to distract her from her heavy thoughts. The more she thought, the more she decided Dublin would have been the perfect place to propose. She couldn’t help but be a little upset Matvei hadn’t asked her to come along.

Her mind was stuck on Maria suggesting she could propose to him. She actually had a point. 

Anya convinced herself it was crazy and rolled over in bed. She pulled her blanket over her head in hope that would be some sort of consolation, but somehow she still couldn’t fall asleep. 

With a defeated sigh, she got up and grabbed her laptop. Her fingers paused on it and she bit her lip. Anya shook her head and started to put it away. Standing in the middle of her room with her laptop in her hand she was stuck. Her clock blared some number she didn’t care to read. She was groggy, but her plan made sense in her head. 

She took her laptop back to bed with her. It never hurt to look.

Before she knew it she was online looking at tickets to Dublin and she stopped herself and snapped her laptop shut. This was crazy. She thought of what Maria would say when she told her. 

But Nicholas hadn’t raised girls who were quitters. He would probably even take her side, if she told him it was what she really wanted. And if her father was on her side, Maria couldn’t tease her too much. 

Her mind was at war between her impatience and her independence. 

Matvei would propose when the time was right. But Anya wasn’t patient. Matvei had the perfect opportunity and he ruined it with a pair of earrings. Well, ruined was a harsh word. But he had the opportunity and he didn’t take it. 

Anya booked a ticket while she was still in this sleepy state of mind. If she had any amount of daytime sanity she would stop herself, but it was the middle of the night and she was a little too willing to indulge her own daydream.

She didn’t care if Maria teased her for it. If she was sure, she was just going to have to propose to Matvei herself. 


	2. A Town Called Dingle

So on a rainy morning, the city laced with a thick fog, Anya found herself on a plane to Dublin, heart racing as she stared out the window. She nudged her purse under her seat with her toes and settled into her seat as the plane began to taxi to the runway for takeoff. 

As the city became a memory out her window, she couldn’t help but stare for a moment longer. She had exactly three days to get to Dublin, purchase a ring, make dinner reservations and meet Matvei. 

Her stomach was already in knots from stress, but she ran through proposal scenarios in her head anyway. How would she do it and what would she say? She should have brought a notebook along to draw this out. Now she knew why men were always so nervous, there was a lot to plan for. Her stomach dropped as she imagined Matvei thinking she was joking and she started to feel dizzy. 

Anya put her headphones on and tried to get her thoughts to quiet down enough to get some sleep. She closed her eyes and would be lucky if she got even 30 minutes of rest. 

Several hours into the flight, the plane jolted in some hard turbulence and Anya was startled awake. She inhaled sharply and peered out the window. It looked as though it was storming and she turned her head back with a groan. That was all she needed was inclement weather to botch this trip. 

The plane dipped again and she felt her stomach turn as she dug her fingers into her arm rest. Anya squeezed her eyes shut and prayed for a safe landing. 

The captain came over the intercom system, “Due to severe storms we’re being diverted to Cardiff, Wales. Upon landing we will be able to book you on your next flight to Dublin.”

She groaned. This was certainly not going as planned. Anya inhaled. It was fine. She just needed to get from Cardiff to Dublin. It was no big deal, she was sure she could easily call a cab once she landed. 

After a hard landing that turned her stomach, Anya stepped into the airport to find it over crowded with other passengers who also had to be rerouted. She marched through the airport to the nearest service desk. 

“Can I please get on a plane to Dublin tonight? It’s very important.” She begged the woman at the desk. 

“Sorry, Love, all planes are grounded until the morning. The storm is too severe. You could try a ferry, though.”

A ferry! Anya’s eyes lit up and she thanked the woman. 

She was lucky to grab a cab that was willing to drop her at the dock. Anya stood on the dock as the cab sped away behind her. The water was rather rough, and it was no wonder most cab drivers weren’t willing to drive to Dublin in this weather. 

A man at the dock looked mildly confused to see a woman dressed in a high fashion coat and heels standing on the dock in a storm. 

“Excuse me, can you take me to Dublin?” Anya asked. 

The man looked at her like she must be out of her mind. “Miss, ferries are all docked until morning,” the man shook his head. “Storm’s getting pretty severe.”

He gestured out to the water. Anya shivered and nodded. She was already soaked from the pouring rain but she understood. 

He watched her shiver, the desperation in her eyes more apparent than she knew. He took pity on her and exhaled as he turned to her. “Closest I could get you actually is a town called Dingle. You should be able to get a cab from there,” He added. “The storms are too severe tonight. But I have a friend who might be able to help you.” 

Anya’s face lit up as she looked at him. “That would be wonderful, thank you,” Anya replied as she held her coat tight to her body to keep her warm.

* * *

She quickly found out the ‘friend’ the man had called in to do the favor owned a small boat—if she could even call it that. By the time he had pulled the boat to the dock, Anya felt like she couldn’t refuse. 

With a heavy sigh she boarded the boat, figuring it couldn’t really get much worse. 

After the turbulent plane ride and the rough waters, Anya was sure she was going to be sick to her stomach. Nothing had gone as planned, and she was never so happy to be standing back on land again after the boat docked at a small coastal village.

Anya closed her eyes and tried not to think about how her feet were cold and her shoes squished when she walked. With a heavy sigh she resorted to dragging her suitcase through the rain. Just beyond the shoreline, she spotted a small pub with its lights on. There was hope after all. 

Her cell phone battery had died just as the boat docked and she hadn’t even been able to call Matvei since she had arrived in the country. With any luck the pub would have a pay phone. 

Anya stepped into the pub to find it buzzing with locals. Apparently a little rain didn’t stop anyone here from going out and having a good time. She stood in the entrance for a moment as she collected herself. 

The pub, lively with conversation when she had entered, quieted to hushed whispers. Anya looked around and realized the other patrons were looking at her. She felt like a stray cat that had run in off the street. 

Her heart raced and she looked around. “Um- hello, I’m looking to call a cab?” She asked a man sitting at a table nearby. 

He gestured to the bar behind him, where a young bartender was filling orders. 

Anya turned to look where he was looking, and caught the glance of the bartender as he served two men sitting at the bar. 

He grinned and laughed as he filled two glasses, and the men sitting at the bar teased him about how he pulled drafts to pour glasses. 

“I get the job done, alright?” He laughed. 

Anya thanked the man and walked across the pub to the bar. 

The bartender collected notes from the patrons at the bar and stuffed them in his waist apron. He quickly wiped the bar down with a rag and tossed it aside. He ran his fingers through his hair and his shoulders dropped with a sigh as he took a moment to himself. 

“Excuse me,” Anya interrupted him as she stood at the bar. 

The bartender arched his eyebrow as he looked up at her. He seemed younger than most of the patrons in the bar and his lanky stature gave him a certain local charm. 

Anya felt eyes on her damp hair, and she suddenly felt like she must have looked like she was crazy. “Could you please help me find a cab? I’m looking to get to Dublin.”

The bartender held her gaze for a moment as he nodded. 

A man sitting at the bar beside her smirked, “where are you from, Sweetheart?”

“New York,” Anya replied sharply. 

“A city girl!” He jeered as he looked at her and turned to look at the bartender. 

The bartender cracked a soft laugh. 

Anya’s lips parted and she felt like she was left out of some sort of joke between them. She didn’t know what his quick comment meant and felt her ears burn red with embarrassment. She was cold and hungry, and all she wanted was to meet up with her boyfriend and perhaps have a hot shower. 

The bartender straightened out and turned behind the counter to grab a card. He reached over the bar and handed it to her, “Here you go, Miss.”

“Thank you, and do you have a phone I could use?” Anya asked. 

The bartender gestured to a pay phone behind her. 

Anya thanked him and dragged her suitcase with her to the phone. She tucked the receiver in her shoulder as she dialed the number and waited for it to ring. 

Her heart skipped as someone picked up— a glimmer of hope that she could make it to Dublin after all. “Hello? I’m looking for a cab, please, I’m at a small pub just off the shore, I’m not exactly sure what it’s called—Car- something,”

“You’re out of luck, Miss, we don’t take strawberry blondes from New York,” the man on the other end of the line replied. “Especially not in a storm like this.”

“Excuse me!” Anya snapped. She looked at the receiver.

She heard the men at the bar snickering behind her back and she turned over her shoulder. Just beyond the counter she spotted the bartender on the phone and he smirked at her. 

“I should have known this is also the cab service,” Anya said coldly as she hung the receiver up. She walked back to the bar, already sour with the bartender’s lack of empathy. “I need you to drive me to Dublin.”

“Dublin?” The bartender was taken aback as he leaned on the bar. His hair fell in his eyes as he shook his head. “Let me tell you a little something about Dublin. Dublin is a city of chances and cheats, and backstabbing snakes. It’s where the worst of humanity collects and poisons their country.”

Anya stared him down across the bar. He straightened out as he held her gaze. She was not easy to amuse. 

There was a beat between them, and she crossed her arms, standing down on her demand. 

“I would only drive you there for five hundred euro,” he replied with a shrug. 

The men in the bar whistled at his offer. Anya sighed and rubbed her temple. She had been through quite the day and she wasn’t here to be used by some bartender for his own amusement. Anya glared at the men sitting around her and they quieted down. 

Anya tossed her damp hair over her shoulder and looked back at him, “fine.” She looked around the pub,“anyone want to go to Dublin for five hundred?”

Patrons turned away from her and the bartender paused for a moment as if he was afraid she could actually pull it off. 

Garnering no response, Anya inhaled sharply as she turned back to him, “I have had a long day and I will find someone to drive me in the morning.” 

She struggled with her suitcase and the bartender raised his brow as he watched her. Anya was fiercely independent and refused to let a jesting bartender ruin her plans. “Can you at least direct me to the nearest inn or hotel?”

He smirked as he tucked his hands into the pockets on his apron. 

Anya pursed her lips as the realization settled in and she nodded, “this is also an inn, isn’t it?”

“I was worried there, for a moment, you weren’t catching on too quick,” he smirked. “I’ll get you a room.”

Anya rolled her eyes at his joke. “Thank you,” she sighed. 

He rounded the bar and led Anya into the next room. Anya assumed this must be the front desk. He dug through a drawer and pulled a key out. Without another word he scribbled down a note—presumably to himself— and presented the key to her. 

Anya went to grab it from him and he pulled it away from her. 

“Sorry, did you want me to show you up to your room?” He asked. 

Anya’s mouth gaped as she looked at him. The way the dim light hit his face he had a certain softness in his eyes she hadn’t seen in the bar. 

“I- that-“ Anya caught herself on her words. 

“Come on, I can show you up and help you with your bag,” he nodded to the staircase behind him. 

“That would be great,” Anya softened. He didn’t seem so intimidating when he stepped down from his pedestal and showed a bit of compassion. 

He nodded and handed her the key. As he passed it off, his fingers brushed over hers. Anya looked at his hand and then up at him. His eyes were on her, and he looked away. 

Anya followed him up the stairs to a small bedroom. “You wouldn’t happen to have anything to eat, would you?”

“Kitchen is closed,” the bartender replied as he flipped on the light. He gestured into the room to show Anya. “But I could probably do a sandwich for you.”

“Thank you,” Anya replied. 

“You did travel all the way from New York and that alone is a feat,” he smirked. 

“What is that supposed to mean?” Anya snapped as she turned around. And he was gone. 

She paused for a moment as she looked around the room. It was small, but cozy. The bed was dressed with a floral quilt that looked handmade. She smiled as she looked around, the room immediately felt warmer as she spotted a tall bookshelf in the corner, stacked with novels and haphazardly placed papers and journals. 

Anya remembered she still hadn’t called Matvei, and he had probably sent her a message while she was on the plane. She grabbed her phone, only to find it had died. 

She frowned and hoisted her suitcase onto the bed, digging through it for her charger. After pulling it from her suitcase, she looked around the room for an outlet, spotting one on the other side of the bed. Anya bit her lip and leaned over the bed to plug her phone in. 

The outlet sparked and the lights went out, and Anya gasped, knowing it had blown a fuse. She pulled a flashlight from her purse and flipped it on as she tried to navigate the room. She could almost hear the bartender making some wisecrack about how she caused the power to go out. 

As she traced the room, careful not to trip on something, a photo frame caught her eye. She picked it up and flashed her light over it. It was a photo of a young boy sitting on a man’s shoulders. The photo had faded with age, and the tattered edges told her this frame wasn’t this photo’s first home. The longer she looked at it, the more the young boy resembled the bartender working downstairs. 

The corner of Anya’s lip turned into a smile as she looked at the photo. 

The door to her room swung open and the bartender was back with a plate for her. “What the hell are you doing in here?” He demanded. 

Anya’s mouth gaped as she looked at him. She stumbled on her words, trying to explain and landed on “You fried my cell phone!” 

“You fried half the village with your cell phone!” He spat and gestured to the window.

He spotted the frame in her hand, “give me that.” He handed her a plate with a sandwich and swiped the photo frame back from her. “It’s personal.”

He slammed the door shut behind him. 

Anya stared at the plate with the sandwich. She suddenly wasn’t hungry anymore.

* * *

The next morning as the sun was rising, Anya sat on a stool next to the pay phone with the receiver pressed to her ear as she bit her nail.

“You’re here?” Matvei’s voice rang through the line. 

“Well,” Anya replied as she looked out the window of the pub. “Almost. I wanted to surprise you, but it’s turned into a complete disaster. I just need to get a cab to Dublin, but I promise I’ll be there soon.”

“That’s great news!” Matvei replied. “When do you think you’ll be in?”

“Probably this afternoon,” Anya said softly as she turned and watched the bartender outside. He was speaking to a man, gesturing to the building and up the street in disagreement. 

The man shrugged and the bartender looked less than thrilled. He shook his head. 

“I love you,” Matvei said softly. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

Anya watched the bartender for a moment longer. She snapped back to Matvei as the pay phone beeped that it needed more money to continue the call. “I love you too, Motya, I’ll see you soon.” She hung the receiver up and paused as she watched out the window. 

He was now arguing with the man, and shook his head with a heavy sigh. The man arched his brow, and they came to what seemed like some sort of agreement. The bartender spit in his hand and shook on an agreement with the man. 

Anya sat with her luggage and waited. The power outage in the village had caused quite a struggle in the morning and she was going to have a bit of a challenge finding a ride.

The bartender returned inside and started as he saw her sitting by the window. “Ah, New York City, you’re awake! Are you still looking for a ride to Dublin?” 

Anya turned and looked at him, “Yes,” she replied coldly. 

“Did you sleep well last night?” He asked. 

“It was fine, yes.” 

He nodded. “I’ll drive you to Dublin,” he offered as he tucked his hands into his pockets and leaned against a bar stool. 

“You made it clear last night you’re not a fan of Dublin, so I won’t inconvenience you,” Anya replied shortly as she crossed her legs and turned away from him.

“It’s not an inconvenience,” he quickly corrected as he followed her gaze. He smirked and ran his fingers through his hair. “My offer still stands, ride to Dublin, five hundred euro, yes or no?”

Anya’s eyes narrowed as she looked at him. “Fine, yes,” Anya sighed. “But only because no one else in this town seems to own a car that could take me to Dublin.”

“Ouch,” he smirked. “Be ready in ten minutes, I’ll pull the car around.” He almost skipped with excitement as he leaned over the bar to grab his keys. He headed to the door and paused as he looked at her, “Oh, and it’ll be an extra hundred euro for the blackout.”

Anya sighed and rolled her eyes as her chin rested in her hand.

* * *

For raining all night, it was a fairly clear morning. Anya stood outside the inn and pulled her coat around her as a breeze carded through her hair. She was looking for some sort of cab to pull around, but it was taking longer than he had told her it would. 

To her surprise, she saw him pull around in a small car that looked like the drive from wherever it was parked to the front of the pub was too far. She tried to conceal the shock on her face as he stopped the car and rolled the window down. 

“Ready?” He asked as he looked at her. 

“Please tell me that’s not the cab,” Anya replied, horrified. “Tell me that’s the cab to get to the cab.”

He parked the car and hopped out, rounding the car. Watching Anya’s skeptical face, he tapped the hood, “what? She’s a classic! She’ll do the job just fine.”

Anya held her tongue and reluctantly loaded her suitcase and got into the car. She wasn’t really in the position to argue. 

As the small village she had spent the last night faded in the rear view mirror, Anya gazed out the window. 

“We’ve got a ways to go, we might as well get to know each other,” he said as he settled into his seat. 

Anya turned to look at him. She watched the way his hand lazily gripped the steering wheel, and turned to look out the windshield. Only then she realized he was asking her name. 

“Oh, uh- Anya,” Anya said quickly. 

“An-ya,” he repeated. 

“Anya,” Anya repeated bitterly. 

“Pretty name,” he said softly. 

“Thank you,” Anya replied as she folded her hands in her lap. “And you are?”

“Dmitry,” he replied. 

“Are you from-?” She craned her neck to see any indication of where they were. 

“Dingle?” He finished her sentence. “No, a friend left his inn to me a couple years back, and I was in the right place at the right time to take it on as my own.”

Anya nodded. She gazed out the window trying to drown out whatever awful music he had playing in his car. After a few moments of silence between them, she couldn’t take it anymore, and reached over and switched the music off. 

Dmitry gripped the steering wheel as they sped down the road. Anya wasn’t quite sure she trusted his driving. Her fingers had taken to gripping her seat in uncertainly. 

“So what’s in Dublin that’s so hot you just have to see it?” Dmitry asked. His lip turned into a smirk and Anya could tell this was going to be a very long trip. 

“My boyfriend,” Anya replied. “He’s a doctor and he’s at a work conference in Dublin. And I’m going to propose to him.”

Dmitry raised his brows as he listened. 

“There’s this sweet little Irish tradition where a woman can propose to her boyfriend on Leap Day, so that’s what I’m going to do,” Anya added. “I have waited long enough for him to propose to me.”

She realized by over explaining it probably made her sound unsure. 

Dmitry laughed. 

Anya turned to look at him. That was not the response she was expecting at all. “What?” She snapped. 

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!” He laughed. 

“Excuse me?”

“If he wanted to propose, he would’ve done it by now,” Dmitry replied. He adjusted his grip on the steering wheel as he settled into his seat. 

“It’s not stupid,” Anya protested. She reached over and popped the cassette tape out of the center console. “It’s supposed to be romantic.”

“Hey, what are you doing?” Dmitry asked as his eyes flicked to her hand. 

Anya held the tape in her hand and looked at him. Her eyes flicked to the tape and noticed Dmitry’s scrawling handwriting on the tape listing the name of the tape. “Greatest Hits,” Anya read out loud. “These are the greatest hits?”

Dmitry reached across and tried to wrestle it back from her, while keeping his eyes on the road. In his movement, the car swerved and Anya turned and meticulously cranked the window down. She tossed his tape out the window. 

“Hey!” Dmitry snapped. “No one touches the music!” He slammed on the breaks and stopped the car. Dmitry hopped out and went back, searching for the tape. 

While they were stopped, Anya got out of the car and turned back to look for him.

“What did you do that for?” Dmitry snapped as he looked around for the cassette tape. 

“You were being cynical!” Anya retorted. “You’re just bitter and lonely and cynical!”

She knew it was childish but she had never met a man who told her she was doing something stupid to her face. He deserved what he was dealt. 

Dmitry crouched down and picked up the tape off the side of the road and shoved it in his coat pocket. As he turned back to find the road was blocked by a herd of cows changing pastures. 

He walked back to the car with a smug look on his face. Anya turned around to follow his gaze to what he was looking at. She let out a groan. 

Dmitry laughed. “That’s karma if I ever saw it,” his lip turned into a smirk. 

“Are you going to do something?” Anya demanded. 

“There’s nothing to do but to wait it out,” Dmitry shrugged. He took a seat on the side of the road.

“Are you serious? I have to be somewhere!” Anya retorted. 

“You tell that to them, then,” Dmitry replied as he gestured to the cows

Anya groaned and got out of the car. She tried to shoo the cows away. 

Dmitry laughed softly as he watched Anya try to negotiate with a herd of cows. 

Just as Anya was about to give up, they moved along and passed through to the next pasture. Anya dug her hands into her hips as she turned back to him and smiled with pride. “There. No thanks to you.”

Dmitry arched his brow as he looked at her. 

“Now, can we please get going?” Anya pleaded. She walked over to the car and placed her hand on the hood. “I’m already half a day behind schedule.”

The car started rolling backward under the weight of Anya’s hand. 

“Anya,” Dmitry said quickly as he watched the car start to shift. 

Anya let out a yelp and started running after the car. Dmitry chased after her and the car. “No, no no! Anya!”

“What am I supposed to do?” Anya yelled. 

“Stop it!” Dmitry cried. 

“How?” Anya cried. 

The car started to roll toward her and she stepped out of the way. The car rolled off the road and into a nearby ditch off the side of the road. Anya froze and watched the car, her eyes wide. She clasped her hand over her mouth and turned to look for Dmitry. 

Dmitry came to halt by her side. His chest heaved as he watched in disbelief. For a moment, he just stared at his car, unsure what to make of the entire situation. His temper boiled over as he turned to look at Anya. “Look what you did!” He spat at her. 

“What I did?” Anya retorted. “I’m not the one who didn’t put the parking brake on! Or maybe you don’t even have one in your stupid, ancient car!” 

“You couldn’t just wait!” Dmitry snapped. He rubbed his temples and he walked down the road. 

Anya’s hands balled into fists in her frustration. “You couldn’t just help me!” Anya yelled down the road.

She held back tears in her eyes and bit her lip. Dmitry wandered farther down the road muttering something to himself. 

In her defense, he had brought this on himself. He was the one who insisted on taking her to Dublin in his car. 

Anya carefully climbed down into the ditch to retrieve her suitcase and purse from the car. She dragged it up the hill and paused to straighten herself out. 

Dmitry paused down the road to take a moment to clear his mind. 

She started on her way down the road and dragged her suitcase past him. 

He looked up from where he was kicking rocks into a ditch in his own frustration. “Hey, where are you going?” He called. 

“To Dublin,” Anya called back to him. 

“Relax,” he started after her. “I’ll call for a tow. They’ll take us to the nearest town and we can pick up a car there—“

Anya ignored him and continued walking. She had a schedule that he had already seriously ruined by messing with her. She wasn’t going to jump through hoops for him just to get to where she should have been last night. He could have easily called a cab service. 

Dmitry sighed and shook his head, and started after her. 

Anya kept her distance from Dmitry as they walked. Clearly this was all some sort of game to him of how far he could push her until she gave up on him entirely. 

Her feet started to ache. She hadn’t brought decent walking shoes, since she hadn’t expected to be walking down a country road in God-knows-where to get to Dublin. 

As they walked down the road a van passed Anya. Her eyes lit up and she tried to flag the van down for some help. 

“Anya, don’t do that,” Dmitry warned. 

Anya spun around to look at him, “I wouldn’t be walking down the side of a dirt road if it wasn’t for you. So forgive me for being willing to try anything to get us some help.”

Dmitry stopped and shoved his hands into his coat pockets. 

The driver stopped and got out of the van. “Good morning, Darling,” he smiled. 

“Hi! Hello, Yes, are you going to Dublin?” Anya replied. 

Dmitry arched his brow as he lingered behind. Anya turned and stuck her tongue out at him. 

“Weird coincidence, I actually am going to Dublin,” the man smirked. “Need a lift there?”

“Yes!” Anya smiled. “What a gentleman!” She turned and looked at Dmitry. 

He shook his head as he eyed the driver of the van. “Anya,” Dmitry said in a low voice. 

The man loaded her suitcase in the back of the van. He rounded the van and got into the driver’s seat. 

“Well, I guess this is goodbye,” Anya said softly as she turned to Dmitry. 

He raised his brows as if for a moment he was in disbelief. 

“I wish I could say it’s been a pleasure, but I think we both know it really hasn’t been,” Anya added.

Dmitry looked past her at the van. The driver started the van without Anya and drove off. 

Anya found it incredibly rude Dmitry wouldn’t even make eye contact with her as she was speaking to him. It was the least he could do after all he had put her through. 

“I think your ride’s gone,” Dmitry pointed out. It turned out he had been watching the driver behind her. 

Anya gasped and turned around. “Wait!”

“Jesus Christ,” Dmitry murmured. 

Anya started running after the van trying to flag it down again. Dmitry jogged after her to keep up. 

Eventually, Anya struggled to catch her breath and stood in the middle of the road, defeated. Dmitry came to her side and watched as the van disappeared into the distance. 

Dmitry let out a _hmph_ beside her as he dug his hands into his hips. He paused for a moment and then continued walking down the road. 

Anya watched him as he shoved his hands in his pockets and his head bowed as he walked. She turned around and looked behind them, unsure where they even were. 

Anya started on the road behind him. She knew they couldn’t stand in the middle of a country road forever, but she didn’t know what else to do. Dmitry at least probably knew the way to somewhere they could get help. 

He didn’t really seem in the mood for company, and for that she couldn’t blame him. He had lost his car and had to run several miles down a road just this morning. 

Anya struggled to keep up with him and eventually let him carry on ahead of her. She didn’t mind the silence. It gave her more time to think about how to get a ring and a dinner reservation on such short notice. Two things that likely would never cross Dmitry’s mind, she was sure of it.


	3. Sixty Seconds

Anya bit her lip to draw her attention away from her feet aching. Dmitry had outpaced her close to half an hour ago. She was alone on a dirt road with no phone to call for help. 

She tried not to think about the way her shoes pinched her toes as she walked. Instead, she looked for anywhere she might be able to get some help. 

Anya spotted a sign for a pub, and it was as if the clouds had parted and shed a beacon of light on the cottage sized establishment. Her eyes lit up and suddenly she wasn’t thinking about her feet anymore. She was moments away from being able to call Matvei and with any luck, a real cab service. 

She stepped into the pub and looked around, her eyes catching on Dmitry sitting alone at a table and nursing a pint of beer. His eyes were fixed out the window as the midday sun crept through the window and illuminated his silhouette. 

“Oh, there you are!” He grinned as he turned to look at her. 

Anya’s mouth gaped as she looked at him. She was appalled by his lack of empathy. She had a handful of choice words to say to him, but instead settled on, “here I am!” Anya faked a smile and rolled her eyes. 

“As soon as I finish this I’ll call a tow truck,” Dmitry replied as he held up his glass. 

“I think you’ve done enough,” Anya snapped. She walked through the pub as she dug through her purse for money to make a call. “I am calling an actual cab.”

Dmitry arched his brow and shrugged, “suit yourself.” He leaned back in his chair as he watched her stand behind a man who was on the phone. 

Anya glared at him and turned to look out the window as she waited. The countryside was beautiful—if only she was able to appreciate it in any way other than having to walk it because she made a lousy deal. She watched the clouds shift out the window as she waited. 

She sighed and turned and leaned against the wall. As she shifted her weight, she spotted men sitting in the next room of the pub and rummaging through a suitcase—her suitcase. 

Anya clasped her hand to her mouth and she turned and stole a glance at Dmitry as he wistfully stared out the window of the pub. She turned over her shoulder and stepped out of line, marching to the next room where the group of men were dismantling her belongings. 

“Thank you for taking such great care of my luggage,” Anya said as she approached the men, “but I’ll be taking that back now, thank you.” 

As she reached across the table to grab her bag one of the men held a hand out to stop her. The group of three men stood up. They had at least a good foot in height on Anya. She clenched her jaw and balled her hands into fists. 

One of the men grabbed her wrist and she quickly ripped it from his grip. She reached across the table and another man pulled her suitcase out of her reach. 

Dmitry spotted Anya—moments away from getting into a fight—and he abandoned his glass, carefully treading into the room to see what she had gotten herself into. 

“What was that, Sweetheart?” One of the men taunted her. 

“Give me my bag, please!” Anya demanded.

“What happened to your boyfriend?” Another man teased.

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Anya snapped as she pulled pieces of her clothing from their grip. “Give me my bag!”

“Or what?”

Dmitry waited to hear her response. He lingered in the doorway as he listened. 

“I’ll—“ Anya realized she didn’t have any comeback for that. “I’ll call the U.S. embassy!” She threatened. 

“Jesus,” Dmitry muttered as he stepped into the room. She was going to get taken down by these men. 

The men laughed at her and Anya lost her temper and tossed the clothes she had retrieved aside and shoved one man out of the way. She was surprisingly strong for being so small. 

Dmitry raised his brows and his eyes widened as he watched her, doubtful Anya would need any help from him. Though he was happy to supply backup if she needed it. 

The men surrounded Anya, still rummaging through her suitcase for anything of value. Anya desperately grabbed clothes and tried to collect what she could. With three men to Anya, it was quickly turning into a losing battle Dmitry couldn’t stand to watch anymore. 

“Come on, now,” Dmitry broke his silence as he approached the men. “Give her stuff back.”

“Who are you?” 

“I’m just trying to keep the peace,” Dmitry offered as he held his hands up. 

Anya grabbed her suitcase and tried to yank it back, resulting in a tug-of-war with one of the men. She kicked her foot up and dug her heel into his chest as she pulled her suitcase away. 

Anya stumbled backwards with her suitcase, and Dmitry held his hands out, ready to steady her. 

Dmitry watched as his lips parted, nearly missing one of the men coming after him. He snapped to and ducked out of the way as one of the men charged at him. 

Anya tossed her suitcase aside and out of the way. She shoved a man into a table causing a crash and Dmitry flinched. The final man remained and Anya glared at him.

He held his hands up in surrender and fled the scene. 

Before Dmitry could even react, Anya watched as the man headed down the road through the small window of the pub. She exhaled and grabbed her suitcase, kneeling on the floor and shoving her belongings back into it with no sense of organization and zipping it shut.

Dmitry stood over her, his hands shoved into his pockets, impressed. 

Anya turned over her shoulder and started to her feet as she glared at him. “You want to see what what else I can do?” Anya snapped. 

Dmitry held his hands up in surrender, “I believe you!”

Anya grit her teeth as she looked at him. Dmitry swallowed as his eyes traced her movement. 

She returned to her suitcase and stood it upright. Anya sighed as she paused beside him. 

“Where did you learn that?” Dmitry laughed. “You’re pretty good!”

“You don’t grow up in a family with four siblings without learning how to fight for what belongs to you,” Anya replied. 

Dmitry laughed. He turned over his shoulder and spotted the bartender glaring at both of them for causing raucous in the bar. He cleared his throat as he turned back to Anya, “Well, unless you had being arrested on your agenda, I think we should get going.”

Anya looked up at him. She was exhausted. 

The bartender walked into the room and looked at both of them. He shook his head with a sigh. 

“We were just— on our way out,” Dmitry smiled sheepishly. He could take a hint and ushered Anya out with him. 

Dmitry grabbed Anya’s suitcase and hoisted it under his arm. He took Anya’s hand and led her out of the pub. 

Her chest was still heaving as she caught her breath. Outside, Dmitry glanced her over for any obvious scrapes or bruises. She looked up at him with wide eyes and he offered a playful smirk in return. 

He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, “I can’t return you with any bruises or scratches.”

Anya smiled softly. 

“Does your boyfriend know you can put up a fight like that?” Dmitry asked. 

Anya’s smile faded. “I don’t think the opportunity for him to find out has ever come up. There’s not much hand-to-hand combat at garden parties and galas.”

”Maybe there should be,” Dmitry suggested. 

Anya smiled and shook her head. 

Dmitry smirked. “Come on,” he nodded to the road. 

* * *

Soon they were back to walking on a road with no end in sight. While she was glad to have her suitcase back, Anya was upset they had left without being able to call for a ride. Dmitry towed her suitcase for a while as they walked, a small peace offering between them. 

“So, four siblings?” Dmitry asked and let out a low whistle. 

Anya smiled, “Yes, three older sisters and a little brother.” 

“That’s a lot,” Dmitry replied. 

“I guess I don’t know any different. I’ve always had three sisters and then my brother came not long after me. It’s good, there’s always someone to talk to.”

“Or wrestle?” Dmitry smirked.

“Or wrestle,” Anya laughed. 

Dmitry’s lip curled into a smile as he cast his eyes away. 

Anya took her suitcase back from him and he tucked his hands into his pockets as he walked. 

There was a beat between them. 

“Do you have any siblings?” Anya asked. 

Dmitry shook his head. “Nope, it’s just me. That I know of.”

“Oh,” Anya said softly. 

“My mother left when I was little,” Dmitry replied. “Don’t know what happened to her. I could have a sibling out there and not even know it, I guess.”

“That’s weird to think about,” Anya replied. 

Dmitry shrugged, “I don’t think about it at all actually. It was just me and my dad, and that’s all that matters.”

Anya turned to look at him. His brow was knit as he walked. She thought back to the photo in the inn of a small boy sitting on his father’s shoulders. It was sinking in that the photo had to be of Dmitry and his father. She pursed her lips. 

“But we made do, you know?” Dmitry added. “My father worked a lot, but it was honest work. Then sometimes on Sundays, when he had the day off, we’d go up to this point where you could see for miles. He’d hoist me up on his shoulders and point out houses or buildings in the town. He’d say, ‘You can almost see the border from here, Dima!’” Dmitry smiled to himself with misty eyes. 

“Dima?” Anya smiled as she looked at him. They meandered down the road. 

“I miss him every day,” Dmitry confessed. He bit his lip as he nodded. “Sometimes I’d give anything to have that back—to be that carefree.”

Anya offered a soft smile. 

“What about you, Miss Americana, did you grow up in some grand mansion?” Dmitry teased. 

“It was a family estate,” Anya replied. 

“So you’re like an American princess,” Dmitry teased. 

“The preferred term is Heiress, I believe,” Anya quipped. 

Dmitry laughed and shook his head. He pretended to bow to her and she laughed and shook her head. He had a good sense of humor about him when he wasn’t working to make her miserable. 

“My parents tried to have us lead normal lives, although I still don’t know how normal it could be,” Anya replied. 

“The American dream,” Dmitry mused. “A stable home with a large family.”

Anya shook her head as she smiled. 

Dmitry stared up at the sky as they walked. In a way Ireland looked more like something out of a fairytale than anything she had seen in her life as an heiress.

* * *

Talking to Dmitry actually passed the time rather quickly. Under his bitter exterior was a man with good humor and good conversation. Perhaps all he needed was a beer in the middle of the day and watching her fight off a group of ruffians to warm up to her. Before she knew it, a train station was in sight, and Anya was hopeful she might be able to make it to Dublin by sunset after all. 

She ran ahead of Dmitry into the station, looking for the ticket booth. 

“Hello!” She smiled at the man in the ticket booth. “When is your next train to Dublin?”

“Just missed the last one,” he replied. “It’ll be about two hours to the next.”

“That’s—“ Anya began. She turned around and looked at Dmitry. He raised his brow as he looked at her. “Perfect.” Anya replied as she pulled her wallet out to pay for the ticket. 

Anya followed Dmitry out onto the platform. She smoothed her skirt as she sat on a bench with her luggage. The breeze carded through her hair and she stared across the rail line. In a few hours she could be relaxing with Matvei in his hotel room. That thought was enough to keep her hopeful. 

Dmitry, however, did not sit. He gazed down the road nearby as he shoved his hands in his pockets. The breeze mussed his hair and he ran his fingers through it to fix it. “Do you want to take a walk with me?” He asked. 

“No,” Anya shook her head. “We’ve been walking all day and I don’t want to miss this train.” 

“So you’re going to stay glued to that bench for the next two hours? You came all the way to Ireland and you’re going to waste two hours staring at a dirty train platform?” 

Anya bit her lip. She supposed it did sound silly. “Fine.”

Dmitry smirked. 

He led Anya off the platform and they started walking into a nearby village. Anya was charmed with the quaint houses and little lifestyles people must lead here. It was so different from living in a bustling city and she imagined what a life would look like here. Perhaps, in another life she lived with her love and they owned an inn or a bed and breakfast together, or she gardened on the weekends. 

Dmitry on the other hand seemed to be numb to the quaint village surrounding them. He must be used to it by now. He lived in a small village himself. 

“What do you do for work?” He asked as he tucked his hands in his coat pockets and pulled his coat around him to dodge the breeze. 

Anya turned to look at him after staring at a small house with a garden out front for a moment too long. “Oh, uh- I stage apartments,” Anya replied. 

“For what?” Dmitry laughed. 

“For real estate,” Anya frowned. “I stage it, make it look nice, and help people envision the possibility. The truth with real estate is people don’t know what they want. They need me to show them what they want.”

“That’s bold,” Dmitry laughed. “So do they get to buy the furniture with the home?”

“No,” Anya shook her head. “We take all the furniture away, so they can put their own furniture inside.”

“Ah, so you’re a con artist,” Dmitry nodded. 

“No!” Anya protested the thought and stopped. “You’re one to talk.”

Dmitry laughed as he kept walking. He turned on his heel and started walking backwards as he looked at her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

Anya frowned as she stepped to keep up with him. “You sat there and watched me struggle and then sold me a cab ride that wasn’t even in a cab, in a car that is now broken down.”

“It wasn’t the cab ride you’re used to, but it was a cab ride,” he smirked. 

Anya grumbled beside him. She couldn’t really argue with that logic. “I’m sure I’m not the first girl you’ve scammed.” 

His the corner of his lip tugged into a smile. “What kind of girls do you think I scam, An-ya?” He teased. 

Anya’s lips parted as she searched for an answer. Her brow knit as she thought, “I don’t know! Clearly American ones!”

Dmitry laughed at the way her nose scrunched when she was upset. “American ones? No, I don’t get too many of those. You might be my first, actually.” 

“So you’re not denying you’ve scammed girls,” Anya crossed her arms. 

“I’m not saying I’ve scammed anyone!” Dmitry laughed. “You’re the one who thinks I scam people.”

Anya let out a small _hmph_ beside him. 

Dmitry’s eyes cast away and a soft laugh escaped his lips. He tilted his head back and looked up at the sky as they walked. 

Anya could barely keep up with his long stride but was determined to not let him see that. 

He was hard to read. He’d smirk or run his fingers through his hair like he was lost in his own thoughts and Anya could never quite tell where he actually stood. There was more to what he didn’t say, the way he arched his brow but kept his lips tight, than the words he let escape him. 

“Anya,”

“Yes?”

“If your apartment was on fire, what is something you would grab without hesitation?” Dmitry asked. 

“Excuse me?” 

“If your apartment was burning and you only had sixty seconds to get out, what would you take?” Dmitry asked with a shrug. 

They had wandered down a little street that was quiet. Anya paused and Dmitry turned back and paused as she had stopped. She looked at him as tried to process what he was getting at. 

“What kind of question is that?” Anya retorted. 

Dmitry shrugged his shoulders, “I’m just asking.”

Anya’s eyes narrowed as she looked at him, “I don’t want to play any more games with you.”

Dmitry nodded to himself and smirked. He kept walking without her. 

Anya felt her lips part as she watched him. Her stomach was in knots and she couldn’t tell why. She hurried to catch up with him,

“Well, what would you take?” Anya asked. 

Dmitry laughed and shook his head. 

“Come on!” Anya retorted. “That’s not fair!”

“I know exactly what I would take,” Dmitry shrugged as his eyes cast away. 

“Well then what would you take?”

“I’m not telling you,” he laughed. 

Anya frowned.

He smirked at her knit brow and continued walking down a small street. Anya skipped in her step to try to keep up with him. 

Anya felt a drop of rain fall on her as Dmitry dodged through a short alleyway to cross onto another street. She looked up at the sky and held her hand out as she grumbled something inaudible. 

“What are you complaining about?” Dmitry teased. “You’re the one that came here.”

“Well it would be nice to have some pleasant weather,” Anya grumbled. 

“My apologies, your highness,” Dmitry bowed to her. “I’ll tell the clouds to get in order since you’re visiting from out of town.”

“You’re so frustrating!” Anya barked at him. 

He only smiled at her. “Typically we’re more hospitable, but I guess you’ve had bad luck.”

Anya groaned as she looked at him. 

Rain started to pour and Anya tried to shield her head with her hand and then tried to use her coat to protect her hair. 

It was only a matter of minutes before they were caught in a downpour and she and Dmitry were soaked. Her attempt to stay dry was rendered futile. 

A train blared its horn and snapped her back. “The train!” Anya cried. 

Dmitry turned to look. They had wandered quite a way down the road into a nearby village. 

“Dmitry, the train!” Anya gasped. She started running back. 

“Careful!” Dmitry called. 

Anya ran without second thought, her legs carrying her all the way through the village and to the train station, just as the train pulled out of the platform. 

Dmitry jogged to catch up with her. 

She watched the train as it disappeared into the distance in disbelief. Her lips parted and it felt unreal. How could it even be that they had managed to miss the train?

Anya turned and looked at Dmitry, her hair hanging limp in the rain, and her clothes soaked. “You!”

Dmitry held his hands up in surrender 

“All I wanted was to go to Dublin, and you wanted to take a stupid walk! And now I’ve missed my train and I’m still not in Dublin! You did this on purpose!”

“What?”

“You wanted me to miss my train so you could keep spending time with me!” Anya snapped. 

“Anya, that’s not true!” Dmitry said quickly. 

“I don’t want to hear it—“

“Anya—“

“No!” Anya cried. She crossed her arms and bit her lip. She rounded the bench on the platform and sat down as she held back tears. “You keep coming up with excuse after excuse, when I should have just called a cab to begin with.”

Dmitry came to her side and sat down beside her. “We’ll figure this out, alright?”

Without thinking he gently touched her arm as he tried to calm her. Anya shoved his hand away and turned away from him. 

“Anya, we will get you to Dublin,” Dmitry said softly. 

“Will you?” Anya snapped. “Because that’s what you’ve been saying since yesterday. And I’m still not in Dublin.”

The man in the ticket booth watched them for a moment. “We can get you out in the morning.” 

Anya turned to look at him. He nodded to her. Her lips parted as she looked around. They were wet, all she had was her suitcase, and now they needed to stay overnight. “And what about tonight?” Anya asked. 

“I know a nice little bed and breakfast that will keep you dry,” the man replied. 

“A bed and breakfast!” Dmitry repeated. 

“I don’t want to hear another word from you,” Anya snapped at him. 

The man gave them directions down a road where there was indeed a bed and breakfast. 

Dmitry thanked the man and led Anya away from the platform and down the road. 

They stood at the door of the bed and breakfast in uncomfortable silence. Anya glared at Dmitry. She tossed her wet hair over her shoulder and straightened her coat in a useless attempt to look presentable. He smiled sheepishly as he knocked and they waited for an answer. 

Anya crossed her arms as they waited. Her eyes caught on a small sign by the door— _couples’ getaway_.

Anya gasped and touched her fingers to her lips as she looked at Dmitry. He was staring at the door, seemingly unaware. 

Her heart raced as she looked at him. 

He was avoiding eye contact with her, she wasn’t sure if this was because he knew she was already upset with him, or if he felt guilty he had gotten them into this and couldn’t bring himself to look at her. 

The door opened and Anya gasped. Suddenly her thought to call Matvei once they got inside had escaped her mind. 

Dmitry looked back at her as if to make sure she was still there. 

She looked at him in the soft evening glow as they stood on the porch. His hair was falling in his eyes and his face was blank as he looked back at her. Anya tried to imagine for a moment Dmitry was the type of man she would be romantically interested in and not a man who had royally screwed her over. 


	4. Mr. and Mrs. Sudayev

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alexa play Hands Clean by Alanis Morissette

Dmitry led Anya across the threshold of the home as they were greeted by an older woman. Anya lingered behind him as she bit her thumb nail. She wasn’t sure what to say or if Dmitry had caught the sign by the door. 

The woman muttered something about how the downpour was only going to get worse into the night. 

Dmitry sighed as he ran his fingers through his damp hair. The woman grabbed her book and set it down as she turned to look at Dmitry. 

Anya struggled with her suitcase and let out a groan as she tried to push the handle down. She turned and reached out to tap Dmitry on his shoulder to warn him but stopped herself. 

“Sorry to drop in on you on such short notice,” Dmitry said as Anya tucked herself behind him. “We missed the train and then got caught in this awful downpour.”

“No problem at all, dear,” the woman replied. “You’re just in luck. I had two travelers earlier today stop in, but they were right out that they weren’t married. I said that’s just not right, I can’t let you stay. Right is right, rain or not.”

Anya swallowed hard and stayed behind Dmitry. She saw his shoulders tense as he processed what the woman had said. 

Dmitry cleared his throat without missing a beat. “That’s unfortunate,” he replied. 

“What did you say your name was?” The woman asked. “Mr. and Mrs.—“

“Romanov,” Anya replied without a second thought as she peered around Dmitry. 

“Sudayev,” Dmitry said quietly as he turned to glare at Anya. 

Anya looked back at him. He clenched his jaw and gave her a look not to say anything. 

Dmitry let out a soft laugh. It was the laugh Anya had grown to know over the last 24 hours. One when Dmitry let out when he was lying through his teeth. “This is my wife, Anya Romanova Sudayev,” Dmitry quickly corrected. “She’s Russian. We both are actually, what are the odds?” The detail would hopefully sell the woman on their situation.

Anya smiled sheepishly at the woman. As she glanced Anya up and down, as if she was making her own judgement as to whether that was convincing.

“And I am Dmitry Sudayev, her husband,” Dmitry jabbed Anya in her side with his elbow.

Anya gasped and smiled, “That’s right!” 

The woman eyed them. “Very well, I’m sure whatever is going on there is just under the long day. I’ll show you up to your room.”

The woman led them upstairs and Dmitry took Anya’s suitcase, as any helpful husband would. She opened a door to a bedroom and let them in. 

Anya graciously thanked the woman. Perhaps she was overdoing it, but if she and Dmitry couldn’t maintain this charade, they’d be sleeping on a bench at the train station. 

The woman left the two of them alone as they stepped inside the room. Dmitry shut the door behind them. Clearly they had some ground to cover to make sure they had their story straight. 

Anya gasped at the sight of the single bed. She spun around and looked at Dmitry. 

He smirked, familiar with the way bed and breakfasts typically were arranged. 

“You’re not sleeping with me,” Anya announced. 

“Then where are you going to sleep?” Dmitry asked as he crossed his arms. 

“I think the better question is where you’re going to sleep,” Anya replied as she took her suitcase from him. 

“I’m sleeping in that bed,” Dmitry replied as he gestured to the bed.

“No you’re not!” Anya retorted. “You have put me through enough games, I will be sleeping in the bed.”

Dmitry watched as she struggled with her suitcase. Anya glared at him across the room. 

“How about we toss for it,” Dmitry suggested. He pulled a coin from his pocket. “Heads I win, tails you lose.” 

“Fine,” Anya agreed. 

Dmitry tossed the coin. It landed on tails. “Tough luck,” he smirked. “You lose.” 

Anya groaned. “Whatever, I need to shower off, I feel awful and now I have to sleep on the floor.” She dug through her belongings and gathered toiletries to take a shower. 

Dmitry laughed. She was cute when she was angry. 

Anya tossed her hair over her shoulder as she walked into the bathroom, just to let Dmitry know where he stood with her. 

After a hot shower, Anya stepped out of the bathroom in only a towel. “Hold on!” She barked. 

Dmitry was stretched out on the bed, and he turned to look at her. 

“You said heads you win, tails I lose! It was a trick so you would win either way!” Anya snapped. 

“So?”

“You cheated!” Anya retorted. 

Dmitry settled into the bed as Anya berated him. A soft laugh escaped his lips and he seemed rather unbothered about the matter. 

“I think that means I win by default,” Anya crossed her arms and pinched the front of her towel.

“Is that so?”

“Yes!”

“I guess that’s fair.”

“It is fair. Get off the bed please—my bed.”

“Fine.” 

“Good.” 

Dmitry swung his legs off the bed and got up. He crossed the room as Anya dug through her suitcase for a set of clean clothes. Her stance blocked the door to the adjoined bathroom.

Dmitry gently brushed by her to use the bathroom. His hand respectfully touched her upper back to pass behind her and she turned to look at him. He shut himself in the bathroom without another glance. 

She stared at the bathroom door for a moment too long. Her mind was spinning. She had argued with him nearly the entire time they had been traveling together, but something about him she couldn’t stay mad at. He was playful, but when it really came down to it, he was respectful of her space and belongings. He just liked to make her upset on purpose.

She listened as he turned the shower on and gripped her towel as she leaned over her suitcase. Anya changed into dry clothes and reorganized her belongings. 

Anya ran a comb through her hair as she stared at herself in the vanity mirror in the room. She tried to clear her thoughts and focused too hard on a tangle at the end of her hair and aggressively combed through it as her brow knit. 

Dmitry returned from the shower. His hair was still damp and he was dressed neatly in a pair of jeans and his undershirt. He crossed the room and looked in the vanity mirror over her shoulder as he tossed a shirt on over his undershirt. Their eyes met in the reflection as Dmitry buttoned his shirt and Anya looked at him without a word. Her fingers paused halfway through brushing her hair.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. 

“I had plans for dinner, were you two lovebirds interested in joining us?” The innkeper asked as she gently pushed the door open.

Anya’s mouth gaped as she turned to look at Dmitry. 

He ran his fingers through his hair and turned to look at the woman, “you know you’ve been so kind to Anya and I when we dropped in on such short notice, I’d love to cook dinner for everyone.”

The woman touched a hand to her heart. “That’s alright, dear, you’ve had quite a day!”

“No, no,” Dmitry held up a hand. “I insist. I cook back at my own place—for Anya. And Anya would love to help!”

Anya looked at him and he winked at her. She pulled her comb through the ends of her hair and set it on the vanity.

“Oh, Anya, you’re a lucky girl,” the woman smiled. 

Anya smiled sheepishly, “the luckiest!”

She shut the door, leaving Anya and Dmitry alone again. “What are you doing?” Anya asked as she whipped around to look at him.

“I heard her rattle off the menu to the couple next door while you were in the shower, I promise I can do you one better,” Dmitry replied. 

Anya pursed her lips and turned away from him. 

“And it wouldn’t hurt to play the part a little bit,” Dmitry added. He glanced in the mirror and fixed his hair with his fingers. 

“You signed us up to eat with them, now we’re definitely going to have to play the part!” Anya chided. 

“Relax,” Dmitry replied as he turned to look at her. “Just play into it, it will be fine.”

Anya crossed her arms over her chest. 

“You came all this way, have a little fun with it,” Dmitry added as he crossed the room. 

Anya glared at him.

* * *

Dmitry stood in the kitchen and looked at the ingredients in front of him. Anya swallowed hard, afraid Dmitry had accepted a bigger task than he had realized. 

“She was going to make some sort of stew, which is fine, the basic ingredients will all be here,” Dmitry said as he looked everything over. “And she’s got a garden out back, in case we need more.”

“What are you thinking?” Anya asked. 

“Roasted chicken and vegetables? Does that sound good?”

Anya looked at him skeptically. 

“It will be good, I promise,” he replied. “Don’t worry, I have this under control.”

“Do you?”

“I regularly work though dinner rush hour for more than a hundred customers, I think I can handle a dinner for six,” Dmitry laughed. 

Anya watched as he set to work. She swallowed hard as he gathered vegetables from the counter and carried them to a cutting board and effortlessly chopped vegetables to set aside. 

There was something mesmerizing about his meticulous work. The way he chopped so effortlessly and moved so quickly and cleanly in the kitchen was unlike anything she had seen from him until this point. She supposed this was his domain.

“What’s wrong?” He asked. 

“Nothing,” Anya replied as she shook her head. 

“Trust me,” he said softly. 

Anya nodded. 

“Can you preheat the oven, please,” Dmitry nodded to the oven and used his forearm to push his hair out of his eyes. 

Anya nodded and dialed the oven to start heating. 

Dmitry searched through the pantry and cabinets for anything else to use. “She has dinner rolls,” Dmitry grinned to himself.

Anya returned a confused look. 

Dmitry washed his hands and grabbed a towel to throw over her shoulder. “We’re going all out. We don’t need a five-star restaurant.” 

“What?” Anya watched him gather utensils around the kitchen. 

“They won’t know what hit them,” Dmitry rounded her and pulled pans out to lay out vegetables to roast. “She’s got such a lovely kitchen, so well stocked.”

“Isn’t your inn like this?” Anya asked as she leaned against the counter. 

“It is, but I don’t always get to do the cooking myself,” Dmitry replied. “Plus it’s always more fun to cook a meal to share than ordering around a kitchen where you never see the faces of the people enjoying your meals.”

Anya supposed he had a point. Dmitry grabbed a chicken to prepare, ordering Anya to grab him spices to make a seasoning for the chicken. 

“What about you?” he asked. “What would one find in your kitchen?”

“I do most of the cooking,” Anya replied. “Or I cook for myself. Except on Sundays my family meets to eat and spend time together. 

“Ah, what do you cook?” Dmitry asked. He poured rosemary into his hand and put finishing touches on the chicken. 

“I don’t know,” Anya shook her head as her eyes watched his hands. “Nothing like this.”

“That’s alright,” Dmitry replied. He lifted the chicken into the oven and shut the oven door. His eyes flicked to the clock and then back to Anya. “What do you like?”

“I don’t know, easy things to make usually,” Anya replied as she felt a blush in her cheeks. “People in the city don’t cook a lot, unless you’re a chef.”

Dmitry smiled to himself as his eyes cast away, “you don’t have to be a master chef, Anya.”

“I’m definitely not,” Anya laughed. 

“You do work with fresh ingredients though, right?” He asked. “You’re not one of those Americans who only eats frozen meals are you?”

“God, no!” Anya laughed. “Give me a little credit!” 

Dmitry’s lip turned into a smirk. “I just wanted to know what I have to work with here!” Dmitry gestured to Anya. 

“I’m not that bad! I can at least boil water and use my oven without setting the place on fire!” Anya laughed. 

“You should have said something, I would’ve shown you how to do the chicken,” Dmitry replied. “It’s so simple but it tastes so good guests will think you’ve spent all afternoon preparing it.”

“It’s really fine,” Anya replied. 

“I can show you the side dishes,” Dmitry offered.

“It’s okay, I don’t want to slow you down,” Anya replied quietly. 

“It won’t slow me down,” Dmitry reassured her. “If you’re learning something it’s not slowing me down.”

Anya’s cheeks flushed and her eyes cast away. 

Dmitry nodded to the kitchen door, “They can wait.”

Anya bit her lip and nodded. 

“Come here,” Dmitry said softly. 

Anya walked across the kitchen to him. 

“I already cut almost everything, but I’ll show you how to season it with a little restaurant secret,” Dmitry sprung into action. He started grabbing spices and a measuring spoon. 

He measured and tossed in a bowl. “Stir that,” he instructed Anya. 

She nodded and followed along with him. 

He patiently explained what he was doing as he did it. Anya watched as he expertly prepared vegetables to roast. “It’s all in the seasoning,” Dmitry explained. “That’s how you get people to eat their vegetables.” 

Anya laughed as she watched him. 

“You know what? I think we’re going to need some mashed potatoes,” Dmitry said as he was deep in thought. “Shit. Get three potatoes off the counter there.” 

Anya did as she was told and handed him the potatoes. 

“Can you cut or peel?” Dmitry asked. 

“I can cut,” Anya offered. 

“Great,” Dmitry grinned. He washed the potatoes and pulled a knife from the drawer and started peeling the first one. He handed it off to Anya to cut. 

She carefully began cutting beside him as he peeled the other two. 

Dmitry finished the last one and filled a pot to boil water. He skipped across the kitchen to check on Anya. Her brow was knit as she tried to cut. 

“Watch your thumb there,” Dmitry said softly. 

Anya frowned. 

“Careful,” Dmitry warned. He stood behind her and repositioned her hands. “You’ll find it easier this way.”

He held his hand over hers on a potato and held his hand over hers on the knife. 

Her stomach dropped as he came closer to her and guided her hands. He gently showed her how to cut, his arms wrapped around her. For a moment it felt natural. Like they were a young couple sharing a European cottage and cooked dinner like this every weekend. 

Dmitry pulled his hands off hers and offered the knife back to her. Anya snapped back. She tried a few cuts and Dmitry nodded as he watched. 

“You’re on your way to being a master chef already,” he smirked. 

“Stop,” Anya laughed as she turned over her shoulder to look at him. “These cuts are awful.”

“It doesn’t matter, they’re getting boiled to mash anyway,” Dmitry replied. He took the potatoes and dropped them in boiling water. “See how that works? It doesn’t matter if it isn’t perfect, it all moves to the end goal.”

Anya’s eyes cast away to hide her blush spreading across her cheeks. 

Dmitry smiled softly as he started cleaning the kitchen. Anya helped him dry dishes and stack them to put away. 

“Now what?” Anya asked. 

“We wait.”

Anya nodded. She leaned against the counter. 

“The best food is worth the patience,” Dmitry replied as he leaned on the counter.

Anya smiled softly. 

Dmitry checked the clock. He jumped up to grab serving dishes and laid them out. 

“If you’re not careful you’ll want me for your kitchen,” Anya teased. 

Dmitry turned to look at her and cracked a smile. “With your tongue, if you worked in my kitchen you’d be ordering my chefs around in a week.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Anya replied as she grabbed serving ware. 

“I didn’t say that was a bad thing!” Dmitry laughed. “I could use some order in my kitchen.”

Anya smiled warmly. There was a beat between them as they waited. Anya watched the rain pouring outside. There was something so charming about this little bed and breakfast. Dmitry sighed as he checked the clock. 

Dmitry lifted the chicken from the oven and set it on the stove. He looked at it for a moment and Anya peered from behind him. “Looks perfect,” he said softly. 

Anya could feel her stomach grumbling. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was. 

She helped Dmitry transfer the side dishes into serving bowls for the table. Dmitry moved the chicken to a plate and began carving so it was easy to serve. He added a few finishing touches for presentation—he insisted it was all about the presentation. 

They looked at the spread in front of them and Dmitry’s washed his hands and settled his hands on his hips. 

“This looks so good,” Anya said softly as she admired their work. 

Dmitry’s lip curled into a smile. “I told you I could do you one better.”

Anya rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I didn’t ever say I doubted you.” She helped him move plates into the dining room. 

“Your face was a little worried, though,” he replied as he carried the chicken into the dining room.

Anya turned back to stick her tongue out at him.

* * *

Guests were seated to dinner and Dmitry was the last to take his seat at the table. He smiled at Anya as he took a seat beside her. She was still impressed with the dinner he had managed to put together from a few ingredients in a kitchen that wasn’t even his own. 

“This is delicious Dmitry,” the innkeeper smiled. “Anya you’re so lucky!”

Anya smiled. “He certainly knows how to cook chicken! Matvei wouldn’t touch a pan with a ten foot pole.” She returned to her plate, taking a forkful of chicken. 

“Sorry, who?” The woman asked. 

Dmitry turned to look at Anya. “Anya?” Dmitry added. 

Anya swallowed and her lips parted at her mistake. Her heart raced as she tried to think of something to cover up mentioning her boyfriend. 

“Our neighbor,” Anya said quickly as her cheeks flushed. “Matvei is our neighbor. Who-who comes over for dinner sometimes.”

Dmitry’s brow arched. 

“And we all enjoy Dmitry’s delicious cooking,” Anya added. 

“We have a good time!” Dmitry cut in to stop Anya from rambling. 

“Well, you certainly picked a good one, he can cook, and he’s good looking!” The woman laughed. 

Dmitry raised his glass to her with a grin. 

Anya felt her cheeks flush. Of course Dmitry would adore this attention.

There was another couple sitting at the table they had yet to meet until this moment. The couple was visiting Ireland from Italy for their wedding anniversary, Anya was quick to find out. 

“We’ve been married for forty years now, and every day it gets better,” the woman smiled. She looked at her husband and then at Anya. 

Anya smiled and nodded. She held her hand in her lap, feeling her palm starting to get sticky with her nerves. She had nearly blown their cover once this evening. 

The couple kissed and offered a bottle of champagne to share for the occasion. They looked to be in some sort of bliss in having Dmitry’s good cooking and a bottle of champagne to celebrate such a monumental occasion. Anya felt her mouth go dry as she watched them. How her heart ached to feel the same way one day. 

“What about you two?” The innkeepers husband asked. 

Anya’s mouth gaped as she snapped back to the table. She turned and looked at Dmitry. 

“We were married, er- two years ago,” Dmitry filled in as he looked at her. He gently kicked her leg under the table to signal to her to follow his lead. “And every day it gets better.”

The man sitting across from Dmitry raised his glass to Dmitry and Dmitry smirked. 

Anya kicked his foot under the table. She caught Dmitry wince. He cleared his throat and gave her a look. He was basking in the attention for being her husband when they were basically strangers. 

“You two are young! Such a beautiful part of life!” the woman smiled. “Did you have a big wedding?”

“Er-no, it was very small. Lovely, but small,” Anya clarified quickly. When she started on this journey, she had always thought she would have a large wedding—something elegant like Olga’s wedding had been. But in this hypothetical wedding the fewer hypothetical witnesses, the better. It had her questioning just how much more intimate a small wedding could be instead of grand wedding. 

“I love small weddings!” The woman replied. “Something so intimate about getting to share that moment with a couple when there’s fewer guests.”

“Yes,” Anya nodded as she looked at Dmitry. 

“Very intimate,” Dmitry added. 

“Go on and give her a kiss!” The man sitting across from Anya encouraged. 

“Oh,” Anya looked at Dmitry. “That won’t be necessary, we, er- did that earlier,” Anya smiled sheepishly. 

Dmitry arched his brow at her awful coverup, and nodded as he turned back to the table. He cleared his throat. 

“Come on!” The man barked. 

“Leave them alone, they’re young and shy!” The wife interjected. 

“Yes, that-that’s it,” Anya nodded in agreement. 

Dmitry covered his smirk by taking a long sip from his glass. He set his glass down and swallowed hard. 

“You can never be too shy to let her know you love her,” the man commented. 

Anya felt her face turning red as all the attention was on her. 

Dmitry looked at Anya for a moment, ready at her side to rescue her from this sticky conversation. They both knew they weren’t getting away from dinner without the kiss. 

Dmitry’s eyes were soft, as if he sought her permission. Anya bit her lip and nodded just enough for him to catch her approval. 

He reached up and cupped her jaw, stroking his thumb over her cheek as he leaned in to press his lips to hers. It had the grace as if he had done this hundreds of times before. 

Dmitry held her cheek as he kissed her, gently stealing her breath away. 

Anya got caught in the moment and cupped his cheek as she kissed him back. 

Dmitry pulled away and Anya forgot for a moment this wasn’t real. He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and turned back to the table. She slowly opened her eyes, and somehow in the dim light he looked different. 

Anya caught her breath for a moment and turned to look at him. He had a smug grin wiped across his face.

The guests at the table cheered and Dmitry raised his glass as he finished it off. 

Anya hoped the low light of the dining room was enough to cover the blush in her cheeks.

* * *

Anya sat in bed in her nightdress as she read, trying to cool off from such a lively dinner. Dmitry had disappeared somewhere after mumbling something but she hadn’t caught it. She didn’t really care as long as he didn’t get them kicked out for the night. 

Dmitry returned to the room in pajamas and looked longing at the bed. With a small huff he grabbed a spare pillow and a blanket and looked around the room. 

“What?” Anya asked. 

“You couldn’t spare half the bed, could you?” He asked, his pillow clutched to his chest, a boyish grin on his face. 

Anya sighed. “Fine, but if you’re handsy or you snore, you’re going to the bathtub.”

“Fine by me,” Dmitry replied. 

He climbed into bed and made himself comfortable beside Anya. The bed sank with his weight and Anya stared at the ceiling and said a silent prayer. 

As Dmitry settled into the bed beside her, Anya returned to her book. She read a page and reread it and read it again, her mind wandering and thinking about all the things Dmitry had put her through instead of focusing on the story. She sighed and scooted away from him in the bed. It was difficult—his frame was rather tall and his shoulders were broad, and the bed was, well, rather small. 

Anya tucked the hem of her nightdress under her leg. She would never mention this night to anyone ever again. 

Dmitry let out a sigh in exhaustion and rolled onto his side away from her. He reached up and shut the light out on her without asking if she was finished reading. 

Anya set her book aside in the dark room. She turned to look at Dmitry—or rather his back, and the way he raised his arm over his head to cradle his pillow as he fell asleep. His chest rose and fell slowly, and Anya began to think about the intimacy of falling asleep beside someone. It was a different kind of intimacy, but one of most vulnerability. 

Her fingers subconsciously raised to her lips and she could still feel the way he kissed her on her lips. Matvei had never kissed her like that before. That was another thing she would never mention again after tonight. This was a charade purely for their own survival. She kept telling herself that. 

Anya settled down to her pillow but stared at the ceiling in the dark. Dmitry was fast asleep beside her but the turning in her stomach was keeping her awake. She laid awake as Dmitry rolled onto his side and began to doze off. 

She listened to his breathing and found herself matching it slowly. It had been a long day and eventually her mind gave in to her own exhaustion. 

* * *

In the morning, Dmitry woke to find his arm around Anya. He held his breath and laid very still as he carefully pulled his hand off her arm. She appeared to still be asleep and with any luck she would never know. 

Little did he know Anya had felt a slight shift on the bed beside her. Anya opened her eyes as she felt him carefully pry his fingers off her and get out of bed beside her. The bed creaked as he got up and her heart sank. She already missed the comfort of having him beside her. 

She laid in bed a moment longer, clutching her pillow, as she heard Dmitry start the shower. 

With a soft sigh she was still. It crossed her mind in all their excitement last night she had forgotten to call Matvei.

Anya snuck out of the room after getting dressed and sat in the nook by the stairs to use the phone. “Motya, I’m so sorry, I didn’t think this would take so long,” Anya said as she held the phone to her ear. “I promise I’ll be there soon.”

She held the receiver and listened as Matvei reassured her it was fine and he was busy with work anyway. 

“I do have some good news,” Matvei replied. “I got a call that we’ve been approved for that apartment you applied for.”

“What!” Anya gasped. “Motya! This is so exciting! The best news I’ve heard since I landed.”

“Look, I know you’re a planner, and I know you must be out of your mind on this trip,” Matvei replied. 

Anya paused as she thought of all the things she had gotten to do with Dmitry. It actually hadn’t all been terrible and there were moments she was actually enjoying herself.

“Yeah,” Anya nodded. 

“I’ll see you soon,” Matvei replied. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Anya replied softly. 

Dmitry caught the tail end of her conversation and paused in the doorway. He had forgotten about Matvei. He had forgotten all of this was to help Anya propose to her boyfriend. He tucked the apple he had taken from the kitchen to bring to her behind his back. 

Before he could say another word to Anya, he turned and walked down the hall. Dmitry slipped into the kitchen and took a seat on a stool by the window. 

Anya hung up the phone and walked into the kitchen, unsuspecting.

“Good morning,” she said softly. 

“Sleep well?” Dmitry asked. 

“Yes,” Anya replied. 

Dmitry smirked and took a bite of the apple. 

The innkeeper’s husband walked into the kitchen. “Good morning! Do you two have any plans for today?”

“We’re off to Dublin,” Anya replied. 

“No, you can’t be,” the man shook his head. 

“What do you mean?” Anya replied desperately. Her eyes flicked to Dmitry. He took a bite of his apple to hide his grin. 

“No trains head out on Sunday, it’s bad luck,” he shook his head. 

“But tomorrow is the 29th,” Anya replied. She suddenly didn’t want to play this game anymore. “I need to be in Dublin tomorrow!”

“Why’s that again, Darling?” Dmitry asked smartly. 

Anya whipped around and glared at him. 

Dmitry laughed as he finished his apple. He got up to toss the core. 

“You must be joking, there must be someone who could drive us to Dublin?” Anya asked the man. 

“Sorry, Dear, it’s bad luck to start a journey on a Sunday,” he replied. 

“Well, we wouldn’t be starting it on Sunday,” Anya desperately tried to reason with him. “You see, Dmitry and I have been traveling for two day, so we actually started on a Friday.” 

“No trains in or out,” he replied. “You could see if someone in town would drive you but I doubt you’ll have any luck.”

Anya’s mouth gaped as she looked at him. “This is a disaster,” she sighed as she rubbed her temple. “Did you know trains aren’t running on Sunday?” Anya looked at Dmitry. 

“Varies town to town actually,” Dmitry replied. 

Anya shook her head. She couldn’t believe him. “I’m going to Dublin today, even if I have to walk there!” Anya snapped. 

The innkeeper’s husband quietly slipped out of the room leaving Anya and Dmitry alone. 

“You got me into this mess, you’re going to see it through!” Anya snapped at him. She jabbed her finger into his chest and glared at him.

Dmitry looked down at her, rather unintimidated by her. “Fine,” he shrugged. 

Anya rolled her eyes and turned on her heel. “I hope you’re packed, we have a lot of ground to cover.” 

He smirked as she walked out of the kitchen. 

Anya sat on the bed of their room with her suitcase packed. She closed her eyes for a moment. She just needed to get to Dublin. No more games. No more running around. She needed a ring and to propose to the man who had been stable and consistent in her life. 

She held her hand to her heart as she closed her eyes with a sigh. Never in her life had she had so many signs to tell her to change her mind about something. 


	5. The Proposal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recommended for reading: A box of tissues

Dmitry walked alongside Anya with his hands in his pockets, a smug look on his face. 

“I don’t want to hear another word from you,” Anya grumbled. 

“I didn’t say anything,” Dmitry replied. 

“No, but you were thinking it,” Anya snapped. 

They walked together down a small road. It was a quiet morning, and Anya could only think of what a disaster this entire trip had been. She wasn’t one to believe in signs, but she was starting to think this was one. It was like every force in nature was trying to stop this proposal from happening. 

Droplets of rain started to fall and Anya let out a curse. “Why?” She shouted. “I just wanted to go to Dublin!”

She stood in the middle of the empty road and her lip quivered. Her fingers dropped from her suitcase and her shoulders dropped.

Dmitry turned back to look at her. She was having a bit of a moment and he decided he was better off keeping his mouth shut than interrupting with some sly remark. 

A few rain drops quickly turned into a downpour and Anya stood, defeated, in the middle of the road. Her soft, golden curls quickly dampened in the rain and Anya didn’t seem the slightest bit moved to get out of the way. 

Dmitry grabbed her suitcase and hoisted it under his arm. He took her hand and led her away. “Come on, let’s get somewhere dry.”

Anya gave in and followed him. Dmitry gripped her hand and led her to the first building in sight. This one turned out to be a small pub. 

As they stood in the doorway, Anya caught her breath, and Dmitry set her suitcase back at her feet. She turned to look at him as he waited for her to collect herself. 

His chest heaved but he was quiet. Dmitry shook his hair out and brushed it back with his fingers. 

Anya stared out the window at the pouring rain. She bit her lip as she held tension in her shoulders. 

“Do you want to get a drink?” Dmitry offered. 

“Why not?” Anya sighed. She exhaled and her shoulders dropped. “Nothing else has gone right today.”

“Come on, Anya,” Dmitry smiled softly. “We’ll get you to Dublin, don’t worry.”

Anya rolled her eyes and brushed past him as she stepped into the pub. 

“What can I get you?” Dmitry asked. “It’s on me.”

Anya rubbed her temple as she thought. “Something hard,” she replied.

Dmitry laughed as he watched her cross the room, “It’s barely noon.”

“We’ve got a long way to go,” Anya reminded him. “You’re a bartender—dealer’s choice.”

His lip turned up into a smirk as he watched Anya let out an exasperated sigh and take a seat in the pub with her suitcase. She rested her chin in her palm as she stared out the window longingly. 

He pulled his wallet from his pocket and approached the bar. He leaned on the bar and tossed down a few notes for two drinks. Dmitry returned to the table Anya had selected with a beer for himself and a mule for Anya. 

He caught a slight smile grace Anya’s lips as she picked up her glass and took a sip.

Anya stared out the window onto an open road. The rain pattered on the window pane and all was still outside. The inn keeper’s husband was right, no one took a journey on a Sunday. And if they did, they were surely out of their mind. Anya felt like she was out of her mind, anyway. 

Dmitry watched her as she stared whistfully out the window. “Everything takes its course,” he murmured as he took a sip of his beer and gazed out the window. 

Anya turned to look at him. “Why do you say little things like that?” She asked. 

“Like what?”

“You say all these things like to trust and have a little faith and everything happens for a reason,” Anya began a meticulous list. She had caught every quiet quip and passing prayer. 

Dmitry stared back at her, his eyes wide. She had caught him off guard. He was just supposed to be her guide. He was a ruffian she had met on the road. He wasn’t supposed to spend a night at the inn with her. His eyes weren’t supposed to be warm and inviting. He wasn’t supposed to wear his heart on his sleeve. 

He exhaled. “Because it does,” Dmitry shrugged. He conceded a blush in his cheeks as he took a sip of his beer. “The rain will stop when it’s ready.”

“There it is again!” Anya replied. “You have all these quips about life, when you’re not even married, you probably aren’t even engaged. Actually I know you aren’t engaged because an engaged man—“

His brow knit at her words and he swallowed hard. Dmitry’s eyes cast away like she had struck a nerve. “I was engaged once,” he said softly. 

Anya gasped and clasped a hand over her mouth. She felt her stomach drop. “I’m so sorry.”

His lip curled as a soft laugh escaped his lips. “It was for the best,” Dmitry shrugged. “Like I said, it all works out. Maybe not for me, but it worked out for her.”

He took a sip of his beer and stared out the window. The rain had turned into a hail storm and there was no way they were going to be able to continue on in that. 

Anya sipped on her drink. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Anya asked quietly. 

Dmitry’s fingers traced his glass as he was lost in thought. “No,” he shook his head. “Time has passed. There’s no use dwelling on it.”

“I’m sorry,” Anya said softly. Her fingers started across the table to touch his hand and she stopped herself. 

Dmitry’s eyes were focused on his glass. “She did keep the ring, though.”

Anya felt her lips part as she looked at him. Her fingers gently traced over her lips. Behind the jaded smirk that made her roll her eyes a hundred times over was a heartbroken man. 

Anya opened her mouth to say something, and then closed her lips. Quick words were what landed them here in the first place. 

Dmitry’s brow was knit as he sipped on his beer. He turned to look out the window—anything to avoid looking Anya in the eye. 

Anya cleared her throat to ease the tension between them. “Is that why you laughed at the idea that I would propose to my boyfriend?” Anya asked. She swirled the straw around in her glass.

Dmitry shrugged and downed the rest of his beer. “You’re making one of the biggest decisions of your life based on a stupid tradition in a country that’s not even your own.”

“So?” Anya‘s brow knit. She could understand he was bitter, but he didn’t have to be cynical. 

“That doesn’t seem just the tiniest bit silly to you?”

“Well,” Anya began. Her mouth gaped. “No.”

“What’s so great about this Matvei guy that you just have to marry him?” Dmitry asked. He placed his glass back on the table between them. 

“Well,” Anya began. “Matvei is a doctor. He has goals, and dreams. He’s good at what he does. He likes to travel. He’s generous. He’s been busy lately, but that’s because he’s working hard to better himself and the hospital.”

Dmitry nodded and his brow knit in thought. 

“What?” Anya asked. 

Dmitry shrugged and let out a soft laugh. “Maybe it’s just the beer, but I didn’t hear you say one thing about yourself.”

“You asked about Motya,” Anya’s eyes flicked up from her glass to him. 

Dmitry’s brow arched, “And the best thing about him is he’s a self-centered workaholic?”

“That’s not what I said,” Anya crossed her arms. 

“You didn’t say anything about what he does for you,” Dmitry pointed out.

“He’s generous, he provides so we can have a good life,” Anya replied. “Is that what you wanted to hear?”

There was a beat between them. Anya carefully eyed Dmitry as he pursed his lips. 

“Does he love you?” Dmitry asked. 

“Of course he does!” Anya snapped. 

Dmitry brow raised as he held her gaze. “Or are you a checkbox on his life accomplishments? A wife, a house, a stable career?”

Anya downed the rest of her drink, “You’re just bitter, that’s what I think.”

Dmitry clenched his jaw as he looked at her. 

It was unfortunate that it was still pouring and they were stuck in each other’s company as they waited for the rain to clear. Anya gazed out the window, barely noticing as Dmitry swiped her glass and returned it to the bar. You could take a bartender out of his bar, but you could never quite take the hospitality out of him. 

The lunch hour began to pick up as they waited. Friends and relatives began to pack into the pub, even if it was pouring outside. Anya admired that. She was used to a bustling city where everyone went about their business in the rain. Here it almost seemed to bring people together. 

“People really don’t cancel their plans for a little rain, huh?” Anya murmured. 

“Anya,” Dmitry replied softly. “If we cancelled plans for a bit of rain we’d never get anything done. We’d never see friends. We’d never see our families.”

Anya offered a smile in return. 

A group of musicians began setting up in the corner of the pub and Anya turned to look at them. She watched, nearly mesmerized as they did a sound check. 

Dmitry followed her gaze, his lip curling into a smirk as he followed her line of vision. “Do you ever dance, Anya?” he asked. 

Anya’s head snapped back to look at him, “No.” 

“Not even in your kitchen? With this man who was so special you flew to another country to propose to him?” 

“Stop it, alright?” Anya crossed her arms.

Dmitry smiled as his eyes cast away. Anya turned away from him and her eyes flicked back to the band setting up in the corner. 

“I think you never let yourself have fun,” Dmitry said softly. “You never let your hair down and just let life take its course.”

Anya rolled her eyes and turned to look at him. Now he was just being mean. “I do,” Anya replied. “In my own way.”

He smiled as he looked at the way her brow knit when she was flustered. “So if I asked, you’d get up and dance with me, right here, right now?” 

“What?” Anya frowned. She stared at him for a moment. She couldn’t tell if he was being serious. 

His brow arched as he waited for a reply. 

“In front of all these strangers?” Anya replied quietly. 

“Why not?” Dmitry shrugged. 

“They’re strangers!”

“That’s the best part!” Dmitry grinned. “After you’ve embarrassed yourself, you don’t ever have to see them again!”

Anya’s lips parted as she looked at him. She really couldn’t argue with that logic. However, she was still worried about the part where strangers would see her dancing in the moment. 

“Come on,” Dmitry said softly. “I’ll be right there. If you make a fool out of yourself, I’ll be right there next to you.”

“Fine.” 

Dmitry offered his hand and led Anya out into the open bar. He fixed her hand placement on his shoulder and pulled her in. 

Anya’s grip on his hand was tight, and he ran his thumb over the back of her hand to reassure her. It turned out she wasn’t half as bad at dancing as she had thought. She couldn’t help her smile as she moved with Dmitry, and he held her as they danced. 

Anya couldn’t stay mad at him. He knew his way around a dance floor, which she had to admit was surprising for his reserved personality. 

He twirled her around and she couldn’t stop herself from laughing. He was right, this was fun. 

Dmitry pulled her back to his chest and in the moment, she rested her head on his chest. 

Other couples joined in and they danced together in the middle of the pub while it poured outside. There were half a dozen couples dancing, but it felt like she and Dmitry were the only people in the room. 

The music came to a lull and Anya gently released her grip on his hand. She pulled herself from the dance floor and grabbed a glass of water as she caught her breath. 

“What did you think?” Dmitry grinned as he followed her to their table. “A truly terrible time?”

Anya shook her head and tried to hide a shy smile. “You were right,” she replied. 

He laughed as he caught his breath and ran his fingers through his hair. 

“But don’t let it go to your head!” Anya jabbed a finger into his chest. 

Dmitry held his hands up as he smiled at her. 

They had gotten so caught up in dancing they had barely noticed the rain had let up. Anya looked out the window where the sun were peeking from behind a cloud and her smile faded. She was almost disappointed they had to go.

* * *

Anya didn’t know how she could have so much to say to Dmitry, but at the same time so little. They walked in silence to a bus station, and Anya slipped inside the booth to pay for a ticket. 

She returned and shoved her wallet back into her purse and looked at him where he was waiting with her suitcase. 

“So this is where it ends,” Dmitry said softly. His hands were tucked in his pockets, and he scrunched his nose as he looked up at the sky. 

“What are you talking about?” Anya looked up at him. She held up two bus tickets. “I’m paying you to take me to Dublin.”

Dmitry’s mouth gaped as he looked at her and he beamed as he took a ticket from her. The bus arrived and Dmitry helped Anya with her luggage onto the bus.

Anya let out a sigh as Dmitry ducked down and took the seat by the window. She sat beside him as they waited for other passengers to board the bus. 

Dmitry gazed out the window and the engine groaned as the bus started on its way. Anya gently rested her head on Dmitry’s shoulder as she settled into her seat. She closed her eyes and gently dozed off. 

Dmitry stayed as still as possible and watched Anya as her chest rose and fell peacefully. She looked exhausted and it was finally catching up to her. He tucked a stray piece of her hair behind her ear, and turned to gaze out the window for the rest of the trip. 

The bus came to a stop in Dublin and Anya started awake. Her cheeks turned pink as she pulled her head off Dmitry’s shoulder and used her her hand to smooth his coat where she had rested her head. 

A soft smile appeared on his lips as he watched her scramble to cover up that she had fallen asleep on his shoulder. 

Anya struggled with her suitcase and Dmitry held up his hand to stop her. He helped her with her bag, and they stepped off the bus into what appeared to be the center of the city.

A breeze carded through Anya’s hair as she took a moment to take it all in. 

“You made it,” he Said softly behind her.

Anya turned over her shoulder to look at him. “We made it,” she reminded him with a warm smile. 

His smirk softened into a smile. 

Anya’s eyes were wide as she watched the city bustling around them. 

“Is the next stop to find a ring?” He asked. 

“So now you want to help me?” Anya quipped. 

Dmitry shrugged, “I said I would get you to Dublin to propose to your boyfriend. A deal’s a deal.”

Anya smiled as she looked at him. Their next stop was a jeweler of some sort.

* * *

Anya sat on a bench with Dmitry in the middle of a public square. Her fingers brushed over the velvet box in her hand and her heart raced. Dmitry was quiet beside her. He leaned back into the bench and watched people pass. 

Anya pulled the box open and looked at the band. She swallowed hard and snapped the box shut, and tucked the ring into her coat pocket. 

“What happened, when you proposed?” Anya asked. She turned to look at Dmitry. 

He watched a cyclist pass and gazed out into the square. “It’s a long story.” 

“I’ve got time,” Anya replied. 

Dmitry shifted uncomfortably beside her as he changed his seating position on the bench. His leg bounced as he thought and his eyes cast away from Anya. 

“I was in love with this girl when we were living in Dublin,” he began. “We had been seeing each other for a couple years, and it was at the point where we either should have gotten married or go our separate ways. We had talked about marriage, and it seemed right, you know?” 

Anya turned to look at him. Her brow softened as she listened. She could see in the way his brow knit it was still painful for him to talk about. 

Dmitry’s leg bounced and he straightened himself out. “So we decided things were going well and we wanted to get married. I proposed to her with my mother’s ring, she said yes, and it was supposed to be on our way to happily ever after from there.”

Anya nodded. He couldn’t look at her while he told the story. Anya gently touched his arm. “That sounds so lovely,” Anya looked at him. 

Dmitry pursed his lips as he thought. He wrung his hands and let out a heavy sigh. “Yeah, well,” Dmitry shrugged. “Turned out she liked a friend of mine more. She hooked up with him, and they’ve been together ever since.”

Anya gasped, and clasped her hand to her mouth. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly. 

“It’s alright,” Dmitry nodded as he watched people pass in the square. “I’d rather her not go through with the wedding than make it all the way through and then have to split.” 

Anya nodded. The ring in her pocket was now starting to feel heavy. The weight he carried on his chest from that memory was almost enough to make her reconsider. 

“She kept the ring though, and that’s what hurt the most,” Dmitry said softly. 

Anya turned to look at him, “that’s why you said Dublin is for cheaters.”

Dmitry shrugged. There was a beat between them. 

Anya folded her hands and placed them in her lap. 

Dmitry couldn’t look at her. He watched people pass as he took slow breaths to calm his heart. 

“You know when I asked you what you would grab if your house was on fire, and I wouldn’t tell you mine?” Dmitry asked. 

Anya nodded as she looked at him. 

“That ring is what I would grab,” Dmitry said softly. He brushed a tear from his eye with his fingers. He covered his vulnerability with a cough into his shoulder and used the sleeve of his coat to blot his tears. 

“Does she still live here?” Anya asked. 

Dmitry nodded and shrugged. “As far as I know, yes.”

“You should ask her for it while you’re in the city,” Anya replied. “It’s not fair that she kept it.”

Dmitry shrugged. He looked at his watch and turned to look at Anya, ”I’ve gone this long without it. It’ll be coming up on three years now.”

Anya shook her head. 

“Besides, aren’t you going to be late to your proposal?” Dmitry teased.

* * *

A rush of air from the hotel doors opening sent a chill down Anya’s spine as she and Dmitry arrived at the hotel where Matvei was staying. Anya’s thumb ran over the ring in her pocket, and she took small, careful steps. 

Dmitry gazed around the luxury hotel. He looked out of place in casual street wear against the hotel’s marble floors and sterile white decor. 

Anya felt a knot in her throat as she walked through the lobby. Part of her was grappling with the fact that this would be the rest of her life. Lifeless luxury hotels and feeling like a stranger in the presence of her own boyfriend. 

“Are you okay?” Dmitry asked as he turned back to look at her. 

Anya nodded as she pursed her lips. She hurried across the lobby to catch up with him. “Let me get you what you came here for,” Anya said softly as she dug into her purse.

Dmitry held his hand up to stop her, “that’s alright.”

“What?”

“You don’t have to pay me,” he said softly. 

Anya looked at him. His brow softened as he held her gaze. 

“We had a deal,” Anya replied. Her fingers were frozen on her wallet. 

“It’s alright, Anya,” Dmitry declined. “Just give me the coin.”

Anya’s mouth gaped as she looked at him. She dropped her wallet back into her purse. “Which one?”

“The one we flipped for the bed.”

Anya rummaged in her coat pocket where she had dropped loose change. “Because you’re a liar?” Anya teased as she pulled it and handed it to him.

He smiled as he took the coin from her. He pressed it between his fingers as he gripped it, “because I’m a liar.”

Anya smiled shyly at him as she watched him pinch the coin and tuck it in his pocket. “Thank you, Dmitry, for everything.”

“The pleasure was mine,” he offered a smile in return. “Best of luck with everything.”

Anya nodded as she held the ring in her balled up fist in her pocket. 

“Anya!” 

Anya and Dmitry turned to see a man in the hotel lobby. Dmitry could only assume this was Matvei. 

“Motya!” Anya smiled as she ran across the lobby to her boyfriend.

He quickly scooped her into an embrace and kissed her cheek. Anya gripped his jaw and pressed her lips to his. 

Dmitry shoved his hands into his pockets as he watched them.

Matvei let Anya go and turned to look at Dmitry. 

It started to sink in that at the end of the day, Anya was going home with another man. This had all been for her to reconnect with him. 

Anya collected herself and pulled Matvei over to Dmitry. “Motya, this is Dmitry,” Anya said quickly. “He helped me get to Dublin.”

Matvei nodded as he looked Dmitry over. “You two had quite the adventure, I heard. I don’t envy you, she’s not the most adventurous.”

Anya swallowed hard. Her cheeks flushed as she tried to brush off Matvei’s comment. 

Dmitry eyed Matvei bitterly. He turned to look at Anya, “she did alright. I think you’d be surprised how well she adapts in unforeseen situations.”

Anya inhaled sharply and turned to look up at Dmitry. He smiled at her. 

Matvei straightened his suit out and smoothed where it had wrinkled in Anya’s embrace. “Did she take care of you? Tip you?” He asked as he looked at Dmitry. 

Anya opened her mouth to tell him she and Dmitry had come to an agreement, but she was choked back by the way Matvei talked down to Dmitry. 

“It’s all taken care of,” Dmitry interjected and offered his hand to shake Matvei’s. 

Matvei shook his hand, “Thank you for bringing her here.” 

“Of course,” Dmitry nodded. 

He waved to Anya, unsure what else he could do in front of the man who was about to become her fiancé. 

Anya’s smile dropped and she returned an awkward wave. How did you say goodbye to a stranger who had traveled with you for three days?

Dmitry shoved his hands in his pockets and saw himself out of the hotel. As he headed for the door, he turned back and stole one last glance at Anya as she caught up with Matvei. 

“We saw more of the country than I was intending, but I’m here now, with you,” Anya smiled warmly. Her fingers ran over the ring in her pocket. 

“Anya, this whole trip had me thinking, why aren’t we married?” Matvei asked as he grabbed Anya’s hands. 

Dmitry caught Matvei’s words and turned back to look at them. 

Anya’s mouth gaped, “Motya, are you serious?”

Her cheeks flushed as she looked around the hotel. This definitely wasn’t at all how she had imagined a proposal.

“Yes!” Matvei replied as he got down on his knee and gave her hand a squeeze. “Anastasia Romanov, will you marry me?”

Dmitry paused in the hotel doorway, watching Anya. She was panicked and looked around at all the strangers who were now looking for her response when she was caught off guard. 

“No pressure, love, but there are cameras around,” Matvei whispered. He pulled a ring out of his pocket. 

It was a beautiful ring, but seemed terribly cookie-cutter compared to Dmitry’s proposal with his mother’s ring. 

Anya’s cheeks burned and she felt dizzy. She snapped back to the lobby that was dead silent. “Yes, of course!” Anya replied quickly. The eyes on her were making her stomach turn. 

The guests in the hotel lobby cheered and Matvei let out a sigh of relief and slid the ring on her finger. 

Dmitry bowed his head and slipped out of the hotel lobby. 

Anya looked at the ring on her finger. It didn’t feel at all how she had expected. She didn’t feel giddy or excited. She turned over her shoulder to the glass doors of the lobby, and they slid shut, as if someone had just exited the lobby. 

There was a pit in her stomach as she felt a longing for something that wasn’t there. Never had a piece of her jewelry felt so cold and impersonal. Anya had dreamed about this day since she was young, and suddenly it felt empty.


	6. A Town Called Dingle (Again)

Anya sat on the bed in Matvei’s hotel room in a luxury robe after showering, setting into the bed as she let her hair air dry. She picked up her new engagement ring and examined it as she plunged into the pillows on the bed. This hotel suite felt so large and eccentric compared to the quaint inns she and Dmitry had graced on their journey together. 

She started to wonder if she had mistaken luxury as an indication of happiness. Anya fixed the sleeves on her robe as she relaxed into the bed and waited for Matvei to return from a work social. 

The door to the room opened and Matvei stepped inside and tossed his key aside. He took a seat on the bed beside her and groaned as he stretched out and pulled his phone out of his pocket to scroll through his email. 

Anya looked at him longingly, her heart sinking as she watched his eyes fixed on his phone. It was unfair, but she did question if he really was so checked out of their relationship at times. She had flown all the way here to see him, and now he didn’t even seem to want to spend time with her. Anya looked down at the stone on her ring and looked back at Matvei. 

On the night of their engagement, he hadn’t even gotten a bottle of champagne to celebrate. Anya shoved her suspicion down with a hard swallow as she thought about how Matvei went off to a work happy hour just an hour after proposing to her without a second thought. 

She traced her fingers over her lips as she thought of Dmitry. Even when he was irritated by her and looked like he would rather leave her alone on a country road, he was still present with her the whole time they were together. She wasn’t even sure he had a cell phone; she hadn’t seen him use one during the time they were together if he did. 

Her cheeks flushed. She pushed thoughts of Dmitry away, reminding herself it was just a memory now. 

“Motya will you kiss me?” Anya asked. 

Matvei’s lip turned into a smirk and he turned to look at her. “Of course,” he smiled and pressed a kiss to her cheek. 

Anya felt her stomach turn with disappointment. Her brow knit and she wasn’t so used to needing to be forward with Matvei. Her fingers desperately grabbed the lapel of his coat. “Motya, wait,” she stopped him. “Like a real kiss.” 

He paused before relaxing back into the bed. “Sure,” he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. His thumb traced her cheek as he paused to catch her gaze. “How was that?”

Anya couldn’t help the empty feeling in her stomach. “Perfect,” she smiled weakly. 

Dmitry’s words lingered in the back of her mind. He was brash and honest, and perhaps was speaking out of his own bitterness, but he was right. It wasn’t until he asked if Matvei really loved her that she had ever second-guessed it. 

Matvei returned to looking at his phone and Anya felt a weight in her chest as she looked down at the ring on her finger. She stole a glance back at him. The ring was beautiful, but it was eccentric for her taste. The diamond was much larger than her preference, and nearly screamed luxurious. It would be just as Matvei would have wanted it to be. But it wasn’t really Anya’s taste. 

When she was with Dmitry she never had to compete for his attention. While she and Dmitry had their differences, and he was outwardly disgruntled with the whole ordeal, she had no regrets about their trip together. Anya had never had such a memorable trip, only accented by Dmitry encouraging her to try new things and making her laugh, and making her remember what it felt like to enjoy uncertainty. In a way she was grateful she didn’t have to navigate that journey alone. 

Maybe Dmitry was right, maybe Matvei was just checking a box after all.

* * *

When Anya and Matvei arrived home in New York City, they filed paperwork to get keys for their new apartment. Anya quickly became preoccupied with orchestrating moving into and designing their new home. 

In a couple months, the apartment came together, and Matvei’s family threw an engagement and housewarming party for Anya and Matvei. 

Time had flown by, filled with working in the day, designing their home in the off hours, shopping, selecting pieces, and building her new life, and Anya was exhausted. She had barely thought of Dublin since she had returned to the city. 

“Nastya this place is beautiful,” Maria said softly as she followed Anya through the door and looked around the apartment. She set trays down in the kitchen for the party and walked through the living space of the apartment. 

“It’s been a lot of work,” Anya laughed. She crossed her arms as she watched her sister examine her work.

“It looks great, you’ve done it again with this place,” Maria smiled. 

Anya returned a smile. 

“How are you feeling?” Maria asked, “You’ve been so busy, I’ve barely seen you since you came home from Dublin.”

“It’s great, we’re great,” Anya replied as she waved her sister off. She started arranging plates for the party. Her eyes flicked up to meet Maria’s gaze. 

Maria eyed Anya skeptically as she busied herself with laying out trays of hors d'oeuvres. 

A set of keys jingling snapped them out of a silent standoff, and Matvei came in the door. “Motya, we’re in the kitchen!” Anya called. 

Maria shook her head as she looked at Anya. Anya glared at her to cut it out as Matvei stepped into the kitchen. “This looks lovely,” he smiled warmly. Anya stood on her toes to give him a kiss on the cheek and then was quickly pulled away when guests started to arrive. 

Matvei mingled with guests, greeted his parents, and retold the story of their engagement easily a dozen times. 

Anya stepped into the kitchen and poured herself a drink. She took a sip and braced her hand on the counter as she caught her breath. As she exhaled, she paused in the doorway to the kitchen as she heard Matvei retelling the story to his best friend. 

“Yeah, they were on the fence because we weren’t engaged. They weren’t sure how serious we were as a couple. I told the agent we were practically married, I just needed to propose, and she was much kinder after that. She practically handed over the keys, the only thing stopping them then was that I was in Dublin,” Matvei laughed. 

His friend laughed and clinked his glass to Matvei’s, “Cheers to both of you. May your marriage be long.”

Anya thought her heart had stopped and gasped as she clasped her hand over her mouth. Matvei had only proposed to convince the agent to go through with thepair application.

For the first time since she had arrived back in the city, she thought about Dmitry and the smug look he had on his face as he downed a beer. He was as bitter as the brew and blamed his harsh words on the alcohol, but Anya now knew better than that. He was speaking from a broken heart, trying to protect her from the same ill fate. Was Matvei really just checking boxes? Checking off a job, a house, and a wife?

Anya’s cheeks burned with embarrassment. She didn’t need to ask herself, she knew Dmitry was right. He seemed to have a habit of offering advice that was hard to swallow, but he wasn’t wrong. She couldn’t believe Matvei would even confess that to a friend. 

Maria wandered into the kitchen with an empty glass. “Nastya, are you alright?” Maria asked as paused in the kitchen. “You look pale.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Anya managed. 

She pushed past Maria and stormed out of the kitchen. Anya passed Tatiana, and her sister paused her conversation to try to catch Anya’s hand. 

Anya quietly stepped into the hall and held her trembling fingers to her lips as she opened the electric box to the apartment. She pulled the tab for their fire alarm, setting off a ringing in the apartment.

Guests hurried out in a panic and Anya was still among the chaos. She watched as their family and friends fled the apartment and murmured in confusion in the hall. 

Matvei cursed under his breath, muttering this was a brand new unit, and scrambled around the apartment, grabbing items of value in their home. He grabbed the hard drive that had video of their engagement, cell phone chargers, his work pager, anything of value he could comfortably tuck in his arm. 

Anya watched him leave with the rest of the guests without even looking for her as she stood in the middle of her empty living room. Tears pooled in the corners of her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. She wiped her tears on the back of her arm as she ran to the electric box. 

She reset the switch to stop the alarm, and frantically wiped the tears from her cheeks. Anya stepped into the hall with the rest of the guests and Tatiana and Maria rushed to her side. 

“Nastya where were you? Are you alright?” Tatiana ran her hands over Anya’s shoulders and looked her over for any sign of harm. 

Anya choked back tears and nodded to her sisters. 

Confused guests started to disperse as Matvei tried to coax them back inside now that the ringing had stopped. He made a joke about a bad fire alarm and tried to pull the party back into the apartment to resume. 

Anya wiped tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand and took several deep breaths to try to calm her tears. 

Matvei approached Anya, his arms full of their belongings, “Nastya, where were you?”

She stopped a tear with her finger and paused as she looked at him. His eyes were cold, annoyed—at worst—that their party had been ruined, lacking empathy for her feelings, at best. 

Anya squeezed her eyes shut to hold back tears and clenched her jaw as she reached down and slid her ring off her finger. She gripped the ring between her fingers it as she looked up at him, “next time you have sixty seconds to grab whatever is most important to you, make sure you don’t forget this.” Anya forced the ring into his hand, and a tear rolled down her cheek. 

“Nastya,” Matvei looked at her in shock. He looked down at the ring in his hand. 

Maria rushed to her side and grabbed her arm, but she was too late. Anya had made up her mind. 

“Anastasia,” Matvei pleaded with her. 

Anya gave him a stern look and turned on her heel without another word. 

Maria looked at Matvei as the confusion settled in. She gripped Anya’s arm and stole another glance at Matvei as she escorted Anya away. 

Anya wiped tears from her eyes as she walked with Maria to the elevator. She tried to punch the button and missed in her frustration. She tried again and hit it until it illuminated. 

Maria was silent as she held Anya’s hand. She stroked the back of Anya’s hand with her thumb as tears rolled down Anya’s cheeks. The elevator arrived and the doors slid open.

Maria led her inside. 

“Hold the door!” A voice called down the hall. 

Maria poked her head out of the elevator door to see Tatiana running down the hall with her heels in her hand. 

Tatiana came to a halt and stepped into the elevator. Her chest heaved as she caught her breath. “Mamma and Papa are still at the apartment with Olga and Alyosha. I told them I saw you two leaving.”

Maria nodded. 

Tatiana took Anya’s hand in her own and wiped her tears away. She pressed a kiss to Anya’s temple and Anya smiled through her tears. 

She was only thankful that Dmitry couldn’t see her now. He would have some quip about how he was right after all. 

The elevator slid down to the lobby and the doors opened. Maria and Tatiana led Anya out of the elevator. 

“Where do you want to go?” Maria asked. She squeezed Anya’s hand, feeling it still shaking in her own. 

Anya was quiet as she gazed out the glass doors of the lobby.

“Nastya?” Maria whispered. 

“Can we go to your apartment?” Anya asked. 

“Yes!” Maria replied. She looked at Tatiana to get her attention. “Yes, of course!”

Tatiana flagged the doorman to call Maria and Anya a cab. It would be less suspicious than having their parents’ driver take them. Tatiana gave Anya a tight embrace and kissed her temple. She promised her she would stay behind and smooth things over back at the apartment. 

* * *

“Why are you going back to Ireland?” Maria asked as she followed Anya through her apartment. 

Anya spent the night at Maria’s and had made up her mind in the morning. She had unfinished business she needed to see to.

“I don’t have time to explain it,” Anya muttered. She was looking around the apartment for articles of clothing. 

Maria gestured vaguely trying to think of something to reason with Anya. Her mouth hung open as she tried to think of anything. Surely there was some reason Anya needed to fly to another country. She understood running from your own engagement party, but leaving the country seemed excessive. 

Anya grabbed a couple of Maria’s tops and a dress from her closet. She held one of Maria’s dresses to herself and looked in the mirror. Anya shook her head and tossed it to the side and pulled another. 

“Doesn’t it hurt that you’re going back to the place Matvei proposed, searching for answers?” Maria asked. She didn’t understand why Anya was so set on Dublin. 

“Does this say, ‘I broke off my engagement, I’m sorry’?” Anya asked as she looked in the mirror. 

“Nastya,” Maria interjected. 

Anya turned to her sister. 

“You’re worrying me,” Maria replied softly. 

What Maria had feared was that it wasn’t the fire alarm that broke Anya, it was only the breaking point. The way the tears spilled down her cheeks in the cab, Maria knew she had to have been carrying a weight on her chest for some time. She knew Anya better than anyone, and she felt a pinch of guilt in her chest that she had never seen how unhappy she was. Perhaps, Anya was only just realizing how unhappy she was, too. 

Anya shoved spare clothes into her bag and zipped it up. “Something started when I was in Ireland and I just need to know if it’s still there,” Anya replied. 

Maria didn’t know what she meant by that but she nodded anyway. She collected a few of her belongings to send Anya off with and took a cab with Anya to the airport without any further questions. 

Anya did feel guilty she ran from her own engagement party. But she could stand a little temporary guilt over a miserable lifetime.

* * *

“Dmitry, there’s a woman at the front desk asking to see you,” one of the waiters called as he picked up a tray and loaded it with an order.

Dmitry wiped his hands on a towel and turned to look at the waiter, “she asked for me?”

“Yeah, she asked to speak with the innkeeper. I told her you weren’t available and she insisted she needed to speak with Dmitry,” he shrugged. 

Dmitry grumbled and threw his towel down. “What the hell, I swear to god these stupid American tourists—“ he muttered as he pushed the kitchen door open and stepped into the hall. 

He found himself face to face with a small woman with golden curls. “Anya,” Dmitry said softly. 

She nodded with a soft smile. 

“From New York City.”

Anya let out a soft laugh and gently wiped a tear from her eye. 

Dmitry reached his hand up to the back of his neck. “Wh-what are you doing here?” He asked. His eyes flicked to her hand, but it was carefully tucked into the pocket of her coat. 

She smiled and shook her head. “It’s a long story,” Anya replied. 

“Well, I might be what they call a jack of all trades, but I run an inn, not a tourism agency,” Dmitry replied with a sigh. “If you need help—“

“I came here to see you,” Anya interjected.

Dmitry’s brow arched and he looked at her. His face softened as though he was touched. He snapped himself back, “And a phone call wouldn’t suffice?”

“International fees,” Anya reminded him. 

“Right, or how about an email?”

“I believe your inn’s webpage said ‘under construction,’” Anya quipped. 

“Right,” Dmitry‘s lip pulled into a smirk. 

“I actually only thought of that after I was sitting in the terminal with my boarding pass,” Anya confessed. 

Dmitry held his breath. If he had come to know anything about Anya, it was that she was never so spontaneous. It seemed she had returned to Dingle in somewhat of a rash decision. 

“Would you like to go for a walk?” Anya asked. She tucked her hands into her coat pockets and rocked on her heels. 

“That depends,” Dmitry laughed. “Are you going to scold me for making you miss a train this time?”

Anya smiled coyly, “No, Dingle is my destination.”

Dmitry nodded. He turned back and stepped into the kitchen. 

When he returned he gestured to the kitchen door. “We’re kind of in the middle of lunch, if you hadn’t noticed.”

“I only need a minute of your time.”

Dmitry paused and looked at her. Anya’s lip caught between her teeth as she stared back at him. His shoulders dropped and he gestured to the door of the inn. 

Anya let out a sigh of relief. 

Dmitry led her outside. He walked a few paces ahead of her, and then paused and turned back to look at her. 

Anya was rather reserved as she walked behind him. 

He noted she was wearing a fine pair of heels that didn’t match her dress. Dmitry could only guess it wasn’t Anya’s choice to be wearing those shoes either. The Anya he had met a few months ago would never have been seen in such a mismatched outfit. 

He was quiet as he walked ahead of her. Dmitry stared up at the sky, as if he was taking in that Anya was here and for a change of pace it wasn’t raining. There was a stillness between them. 

“I broke off my engagement to Matvei,” Anya said quietly. 

Dmitry inhaled sharply and turned back to look at her. He paused until she caught up to him. 

“You can say I told you so, it’s alright,” Anya added with a shrug. 

“I wouldn’t tease you like that,” Dmitry said softly. “I’m really sorry to hear that.”

“Well, you were right,” Anya nodded. “Matvei was just checking off boxes.”

“I really am sorry, Anya,” Dmitry replied as he stopped in his tracks. “It’s awful to lose someone you thought you loved, and even worse to lose that sense of security.” 

Anya held back tears as she walked with him. She should have known he would understand the situation better than any of her sisters or family could.

“It’s alright,” Anya said softly. “I just pinned all my hopes on Matvei, and didn’t know what it meant to be loved.”

Dmitry’s brow knit as he turned to look at her. They had walked to a small lookout point just beyond the inn. 

“You don’t give yourself enough credit,” Dmitry said softly as he shoved his hands into his pockets. 

Anya turned to look at him. 

“You know what it means to be loved, you just wanted the person you loved to love you the way you deserve to be loved,” Dmitry added. 

Anya swallowed hard as she balled her hands into fists in her coat pockets. She knew he was right. It just hurt hearing it come from his lips. 

“It’s not your fault for wanting someone to love you,” Dmitry shrugged. He couldn’t look at her. 

Anya nodded. She knew he had to be speaking from his own broken engagement. He was smart and more empathetic than he had ever led on before. 

There was a beat between them. 

“That guy was too self-absorbed to see the perfectly lovely person by his side,” Dmitry added bitterly.

Anya opened her mouth to say something and then snapped it shut. 

Dmitry looked at her expectantly. 

“Dmitry, I came back here, to Dingle, because I realized those three days we spent together made me happier than I had been in four years with Matvei,” Anya said softly. 

Dmitry turned back to look at her. His lips parted as he listened. 

“I guess I really should be thanking you,” Anya added as she was lost in thought. 

Dmitry let out a soft laugh, “you already thanked me at the hotel in Dublin.”

“For taking me to Matvei,” Anya corrected. 

“So are you also thanking me for taking you from him?” Dmitry teased. 

Anya laughed and wiped a tear from her eye. “I guess you could call it that,” she smiled. “Dmitry, I didn’t fly all the way here just to tell you I broke off an engagement to my fiancé.”

Dmitry cleared his throat as he looked at her. 

“I wanted to know, if you’re not seeing anyone, if you wanted to see me?”

He was quiet and Anya felt herself rambling to mend what had been so broken between her and Matvei, “I want to be able to make plans with someone who makes me laugh and wants to just experience life with me.”

Dmitry gave her a blank look as he was caught in surprise.

“I know it’s probably crazy–“ Anya backtracked. 

“Hold on one second,” he said quietly. 

He held a hand up to tell Anya to wait. She stood at the look out point as she watched him jog back to the inn. 

Five minutes passed and then ten, and Anya began to worry he had made an escape out of it. The breeze rustled through her hair and she pulled her coat close around her. 

How awful would it be to face a rejection after rejecting her engagement. Or perhaps not even, if he never came back. 

Suddenly, she saw his figure jogging back, wind carding through his floppy hair. He paused and caught his breath for a moment, something concealed in his hand. 

“I wanted to show you something,” Dmitry looked down at his hand. He uncurled his hand to reveal a ring. “I was so surprised you were even here, I had forgotten about it.”

Anya gasped as she looked at it. “You got it back?”

Dmitry nodded and looked down at the ring in his hand. 

Anya watched him turn the ring over in his hand. She swallowed hard as she examined the intricate metal working of the ring as Dmitry studied it in his palm.

Dmitry pursed his lips as he watched her examine the ring.

“I saw it,” Dmitry confessed. “Matvei’s proposal, I mean.”

“I think everyone in that hotel did,” Anya laughed nervously. 

Dmitry laughed and his smile faded. “I had never seen you look so disenchanted in the whole three days we spent together.” 

He rolled the ring between his fingers. “A proposal is supposed to be meaningful, no matter how grand,” Dmitry replied softly. “He just caught you horribly off guard and in a public place where you felt like you had to say yes.”

“I thought it would be what I wanted but when he was sitting there in front of me on his knee I wasn’t so sure,” Anya nodded in agreement. “I think I thought it would be fine once we moved in together, and it wasn’t. It was worse.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Dmitry said quietly. 

“Well you know they say nothing is as lonely as being surrounded by the wrong people,” Anya sighed. “I guess he was just the wrong person.”

Dmitry looked down at the ring in his palm. His brow knit like Anya’s words had struck a nerve.

She turned to look at him. 

“I saw the look on your face and I knew I needed to get the ring back,” he replied. 

“You took my advice?” Anya teased. 

Dmitry laughed and shook his head. “Don’t let it get to your head, I was in the city anyway, so I figured I’d give her a call and ask for the ring. It was my mother’s and it was the only thing I had left of her.”

“I’m glad you did,” Anya smiled warmly. 

He was quiet as he looked at the ring and tucked it back into his pocket. Dmitry nodded, “me too.”

There was a beat between them. 

“So,” Dmitry began. 

“Hm?” Anya looked up at him expectantly. 

“You asked if I was seeing anyone,” Dmitry replied as he cleared his throat. 

“You didn’t seem interested,” Anya brushed it off. “It’s not a big deal.”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t interested,” Dmitry corrected. “I didn’t say anything, actually.”

“It’s fine—“ 

“I’m not,” Dmitry interrupted. 

Anya looked up at him. She wrung her hands and Dmitry swallowed as his eyes flicked to her bare finger. 

He fixed a stray piece of her hair and tucked it behind her ear. 

Any’s cheeks flushed, “Dmitry, will you kiss me?” 

He broke with a laugh. “Kiss you?” Dmitry playfully took offense. “We’re hardly friends and now you’re asking me to kiss you?”

“You shared a bed with me at the inn, I think you could at least consider it,” Anya retorted. “I’m not a complete stranger.”

Dmitry laughed as his eyes cast away. 

“Like you did at the inn?” Anya asked. “Please, Dmitry I came all this way, I just need to know if it was for nothing.” 

Dmitry’s smile faded. He looked at the sincerity in her eyes and cleared his throat, “that was only pretend, Anya.”

Anya felt her throat choke up. The corner of his lip dropped and made her question whether she had been a fool after all, and this was just a game to him. 

His eyes flicked up at her and he caught her gaze. Dmitry wet his lower lip as he looked at her. Anya’s lips parted as her shoulders dropped. 

In one smooth motion he closed the space between them and reached out to cup her cheek. Dmitry traced her jawline and tilted her chin up to look at him. His careful fingers traced over her cheek.

Anya almost felt her heart skip a beat on his touch alone. 

He leaned down to press his lips to hers, and parted his lips to deepen the kiss. His hand wrapped around the small of her back as he pulled her closer.

She had almost begged him to kiss her, but his smooth motion still caught her off guard. 

Anya wrapped her arms around his neck to keep him close, her fingers lacing through his hair. 

Dmitry smiled against her lips, parting just long enough to catch his breath. 

Anya’s fingers curled in his hair and drew him back down for a second kiss. He laughed against her lips and caught her lips again, careful to draw her breath away. 

As he pulled away and gently lifted his hand from the small of her back, a satisfied grin wiped across his face. “How was that?”

Anya was breathless and her fingers traced over her lips like her mind had short circuited. 

Dmitry’s brow arched as he waited for an answer. 

“Better than the inn,” Anya replied softly as her cheeks turned pink. “I didn’t think that was possible.” 

Dmitry smirked with his own self-satisfaction. “You were promised away to someone else then, it had to just be enough to be convincing.”

Anya smiled softly. 

Dmitry shrugged and tucked his hands into his pockets. 

“So is that a yes?” Anya asked. “No promise of anything. We just do it day by day. No plans, nothing.”

“No,” Dmitry shook his head. 

Anya’s mouth gaped. She didn’t know what else to say to him. 

Dmitry laughed, “Because I’d prefer to make plans with you. From what I hear, you’re the best at making them.”

Anya smiled as she looked up at him. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. Dmitry ran his fingers softly through her curls. 

“One day I’m going to have a ring made for your finger,” Dmitry whispered. 

“What about your mother’s ring?” Anya asked as she looked up at him. “You went to all that trouble—“

“I wanted it for myself,” Dmitry replied. He pursed his lips as he thought. “But I could never give it to you.”

Anya dropped her hands and pulled away from him. She didn’t understand. All she could think about with Matvei was how cookie cutter his proposal was, and how a guy like Dmitry would go to the length of proposing with a family heirloom. 

“It’s bad luck,” Dmitry replied. “It’s already broken two promises I can’t risk it breaking a promise with you.”

Anya’s mouth gaped as she looked at him. He might not even be superstitious but he wasn’t even willing to take the chance of losing her again. 

“Besides, you’re better than a hand me down ring,” Dmitry replied with a shrug. 

“But it was your mother’s,” Anya offered. 

“Yeah, and I wouldn’t even have it if she hadn’t left my father,” Dmitry said softly. “It’s the only thing I have that was hers, but I think it’s bad luck for a marriage you want to work out.”

“You would propose to me?” Anya asked with a smirk. 

“One day, maybe,” Dmitry replied. His cheeks flushed. “But you are going to have to wait until I finish my shift,” he teased. “It is the middle of the lunch rush, after all.”

Anya reached up and pulled him down into a kiss. He pulled her close and wrapped an arm around her waist. There was something about it that was so natural. Anya almost could forgive Matvei, because without him, she never would have felt Dmitry holding her against his chest. 

Dmitry kept her close and stroked his fingers through her hair. It was like he had only restrained himself around her before because he was being respectful of Matvei. It turned out he didn’t need to hold back anymore. 

“I waited this long, I could wait another couple hours,” Anya smiled as she laced her fingers through his. 

He kissed the back of her hand. “I’ll get you something, on the house.”

Anya walked with Dmitry back to the inn. She gently swung her hand with his, and felt him release the tension in his shoulder to let his hand swing. She was taken aback by him willingly letting her be soft and childish with him. 

He stroked his thumb over the back of her hand to reassure her. He was jaded and bitter upon first gaze, but when he was with her, he played along with her to see her smile.

Dmitry smiled as he watched her skip along with him. He laughed as he watched her. Her blue eyes had never looked so bright. 

For once Anya hadn’t made any plans, but it seemed Dmitry was already making plans for both of them. He had a way of lifting a burden from her shoulders and carrying it with her. The way a weight had been lifted from her chest, Anya knew she couldn’t love another man any more than she loved Dmitry. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to read, leave kudos, and comment. Your support is appreciated so much, and I hope this can bring just a little bit of joy to your day. 
> 
> A special thank you to izloveshorses, this would not be possible without your support and friendship <3


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